CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Rain may disrupt the highly anticipated opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The clash between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is scheduled for Saturday at Eden Gardens, but intermittent rainfall has been affecting Kolkata since last night. Although a brief period of sunshine was seen in the afternoon, sparking hope for uninterrupted play, the Meteorological Department has predicted further scattered showers in the evening.

The weather has also impacted both teams’ preparations. On Friday, rain disrupted training sessions for both KKR and RCB. Earlier in the week, KKR’s intra-squad practice match had to be abandoned due to rain. Training on Wednesday and Thursday was also hindered by light showers.

The Indian Meteorological Department has issued an “Orange Alert” for West Bengal, indicating that rainfall may persist in the region. Kolkata has experienced continuous light to moderate rain over the past few days.

As per IPL rules, an additional hour will be allotted for league-stage matches to ensure a minimum of five overs per innings. If the match is washed out due to rain, both teams will be awarded one point each. The toss is scheduled for 7:00 PM, with the match beginning at 7:30 PM.

Following this match, KKR will face Rajasthan Royals (RR) on March 26 in Guwahati, while RCB will play against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 28 in Chennai. A grand opening ceremony will precede the KKR vs RCB clash, marking a vibrant start to the new IPL season.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Venkatesh Iyer (Vice-Captain), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Ankkrish Raghuvanshi, Quinton de Kock (Wicketkeeper), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wicketkeeper), Mayank Markande, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Manish Pandey, Lavneet Sisodia (Wicketkeeper), Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya, Spencer Johnson.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (Captain), Swastik Chikara, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Philip Salt, Manoj Bhandage, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh.

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