Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) started their IPL 2025 journey with a unique prayer ceremony at Eden Gardens on March 12. Head coach Chandrakant Pandit, bowling coach Bharat Arun, and newly appointed captain Ajinkya Rahane took part in the ritual. A garland was placed on three black stumps, and Rahane performed the traditional coconut-breaking ceremony, symbolizing a fresh beginning.
Following the ritual, Pandit addressed the team before the players hit the ground for their first training session. Several key players, including Andre Russell and Anrich Nortje, joined the camp.
Pandit said, "We have already planned our training sessions. A few international players are unavailable because of the Champions Trophy, but we have most of our key players here. It’s a great feeling as we are coming back to our home ground, especially after the season we had last time around, and We would like to continue that momentum. There is a different motivation in the team," Pandit said.
KKR to face RCB in IPL 2025 opener
On Saturday, March 22, defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders and the previous finalists Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be facing each other at the Eden Gardens. Shreyas Iyer, the captain of KKR who won the title, was let go by the team prior to the huge auction. Punjab Kings paid an incredible ₹26.75 crore to acquire Iyer. Phil Salt, one of KKR's top 2024 match winners, was also released.
During the mega auction KKR purchased players like Quinton de Kock and Ajinkya Rahane. Gautam Gambhir, KKR's mentor will not be part of the team as he assumed the position of head coach for Team India.
KKR squads for IPL 2025
Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Anrich Nortje, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Umran Malik
