18 years after the iconic Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengalore to kick off the Indian Premier League (IPL), we have completed a full circle and the two teams are yet again up against each other, this time to kick off the 2025 edition of the tournament. (Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
Since that fateful night on 2008 when IPL started, KKR have won three titles including one last year. RCB meanwhile are still stuck at zero even though they have changed the Bangalore in their name to Bengaluru.
The KKR vs RCB rivalry has given some memorable matches over the years. On the opening night of the IPL, we had that iconic 158 not out from Brendon McCullum that lit up the league. Another memorable game was when RCB were bowled out for just 49. Last season also, we had a memorable game where RCB fell just a run short of KKR's 222-run total.
Let us take a quick look at the head-to-head record of these two teams and also some key numbers in the KKR vs RCB rivalry.
KKR Vs RCB Head To Head
Played: 35
KKR: 21
RCB: 14
At Eden Gardens
Played: 12
KKR: 8
RCB: 4
KKR hold a decent lead over RCB thanks to their recent dominance in this rivalry. In fact, RCB have been able to win just one of the last seven games played between the two sides. With four losses in last four games across the past two seasons against KKR, RCB are now winless against the Kolkata franchise for almost three years.
Another interesting fact is that, in the games where KKR have batted first against RCB, the Kolkata franchise holds an impeccable 11/3 win loss record.
KKR Vs RCB Rivalry Key Numbers
Most runs: Virat Kohli 962
Most wickets: Sunil Narine 26
Highest score: Brendon McCullum 158*
Best Bowling: Varun Chakravarthy 4/15
Squads
KKR: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya
RCB: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee
