CB Society Don't Just Dream, Live it !!

CricBattle Daily Fantasy Cricket League Tips

Kolkata vs Bangalore on March 22

The highly anticipated 18th edition of the IPL 2025 will finally get underway on Saturday, March 22, when the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, will clash with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. KKR will see a season under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane after parting ways with their IPL-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer. However, the core squad remains intact, ensuring stability in their title defence. The team was impressive in the latter half of IPL 2024 and clinched their third title with a comfortable victory in the final. RCB, still chasing their maiden first IPL title, will be led by Rajat Patidar this season. Despite making the playoffs last year, they couldn't go on to change their fortunes. With Virat Kohli once again at the centre of the limelight, the eyeballs will be on him to score the runs.

Best economical pick – Phil Salt scored 435 runs in the previous edition at a strike rate of 182. He will open the batting for RCB and can be a good option to have.

Top captains & vice captains – Royal Challengers Bengaluru star batter Virat Kohli was the leading run-scorer of the last season with 741 runs to his name from 15 innings at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69 with one ton and five fifties. He will look to start the upcoming season with a big score and give his team a great start and boost his chances in orange cap race. Varun Chakravarthy can once again be the trump card for the defending champions this season. He is coming off some great performances for India throughout the year and will look to carry the same momentum forward. Notably, in the previous edition, Varun was the second-highest wicket-taker of the season with 21 wickets to his name in 14 innings, a performance that could also boost his chances in purple cap race.

Smart pick – Sunil Narine is the MVP in a fantasy side. He will open the batting and is a quality off-sppiner. Back him to get points from both departments.

Cautious Pick – Chetan Sakariya, who was brought in as an injury replacement for Umran Malik, might not make it into the playing XI. With bowlers like Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, and Spencer Johnson in the team, Sakariya's chances of featuring in the match are slim. 

My XI – Virat Kohli (Captain), Varun Chakravarthy (Vice-Captain), Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, B Kumar, Andre Russell, Liam Livingstone, Rinku Singh, Rajat Patidar, Quinton de Kock, Ajinkya Rahane