The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 resumes after a one-week suspension, and it’s now or never for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Coming off a demoralising defeat to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their last outing, KKR find themselves on a knife-edge. With just a handful of games left in the league stage, another loss could effectively end their playoff hopes. Ajinkya Rahane’s side must regroup quickly as they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in a must-win clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Manish Pandey vs Venkatesh Iyer – a selection dilemma for KKR
In their previous game, KKR dropped the out-of-form Venkatesh Iyer in favour of veteran Manish Pandey — a move that brought immediate returns. Pandey’s unbeaten 36 provided much-needed stability in the middle order.
However, Venkatesh, who was bought for a massive Rs 23.75 crore and named vice-captain, remains in contention. Both trained extensively in the nets on Friday, and the decision could once again go down to matchups — or faith in redemption.
Anukul Roy could return to the XI, offering left-arm spin against RCB’s right-hand dominant top order. With Moeen Ali and Rovman Powell out of IPL 2025, Ramandeep Singh is expected to retain his spot. KKR’s spinners — Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy — will once again be key, especially against the likes of Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar, both of whom have middling records against spin.
KKR Predicted XI vs RCB
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz
- Sunil Narine
- Ajinkya Rahane
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi
- Manish Pandey/Venkatesh Iyer
- Rinku Singh
- Andre Russell
- Ramandeep Singh
- Anukul Roy
- Harshit Rana
- Varun Chakaravarthy
- Impact Sub: Vaibhav Arora
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