Indian Premier League

 The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India organised by the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, the league features ten state or city-based franchise teams.The IPL is the most popular and richest cricket league in the world and is held between March and May. It has an exclusive window in the ICC Future Tours Programme, resulting in fewer international cricket tours occurring during the IPL seasons. It is also India's most viewed sports competition followed by the Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League, as per BARC.

IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening match of the IPL 2025 season. 

On Saturday, the T20 tournament starts yet another two-month journey of breathless excitement. Plenty of runs, cheerleaders dancing to blaring music, some nail-biting late finishes, maybe some rain. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders take on perennial pretenders Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening match at the Eden Gardens, with the inaugural ceremony peppered with some Bollywood-style frolic, weather permitting.

Loyalties change with the colour of the jersey. In the blink of an eye, forever friends become foes on the field. Take Phil Salt, for example. The Englishman was so crucial in KKR’s triumph last year. He will be there in Saturday’s opening show, but in the rival camp. Ask him how he feels coming up against Harshit Rana, and he’ll have mixed feelings.

Fellow Englishman Jos Buttler was surprised when Rajasthan Royals let him go, even penning a heartfelt farewell to the Jaipur franchise. Clearly, emotions have no place in the IPL auction, where only practical logic works. Buttler now has an opportunity to showcase his power for Gujarat Titans.

Shreya Ghoshal, Karan Aujla and Disha Patani are among the entertainers to have been lined up for the gala event. ‘Host of honour’ Shah Rukh Khan could well shake a leg or two. The possibility of rain and thunderstorm has been a mood dampener. Fingers crossed.

Indian Premier League season-opening matches

Defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will kick off its IPL 2025 campaign on Saturday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2008)- Kolkata Knight Riders won by 140 runs. (Chinnaswamy, Bangalore)

Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians (2009)- Mumbai Indians won by 19 runs. (Newlands, Cape Town)

Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2010) - Kolkata Knight Riders won by 11 runs. (Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai)

Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2011) - Chennai Super Kings won by two runs. (MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai)

Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians (2012) - Mumbai Indians won by eight wickets. (MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai)

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils (2013) - Kolkata Knight Riders won by six wickets. (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)

Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2014) - Kolkata Knight Riders won by 41 runs. (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi)

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians (2015) - Kolkata Knight Riders won by seven wickets. (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)

Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant (2016) - Rising Pune Supergiant won by nine wickets. (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai)

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (2017) - Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 35 runs. (Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad)

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings (2018) - Chennai Super Kings won by one wicket. (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai)

Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (2019) - Chennai Super Kings won by seven wickets. (MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai)

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings (2020) - Chennai Super Kings won by five wickets. (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi)

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (2021) - Royal Challengers Bangalore won by two wickets. (MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai)

Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2022) - Kolkata Knight Riders won by six wickets. (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai)

Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings (2023) - Gujarat Titans won by five wickets. (Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad)

Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2024) - Chennai super Kings won by six wickets. (MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

IPL 2025 : SRH vs RR

DC vs SRH Match : 10

Mitchell Starc secures his maiden T20 five-wicket haul in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad

           Delhi Capitals' fast bowler Mitchell Starc finished with figures of 3.4-0-35-5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday as he recorded his best figures in T20s.

            Mitchell Starc secured figures of 3.4-0-35-5. Prior to this, Starc had claimed three four-wicket hauls in T20s. Additionally, he exceeded the 200-wicket milestone in T20s. Mitchell Starc produced a remarkable performance, picking up his maiden five-wicket haul in Delhi Capitals' clash against Sunrisers. His previous best figures of 4-0-15-4 were recorded while representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Kings XI Punjab in 2015 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Furthermore, he achieved two four-wicket hauls for Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders.

       Delhi Capitals are geared up to take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in game 10 of the ongoing IPL 2025. The encounter will be held at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, with the Capitals aiming to capitalize on their first win of the season and extend their winning streak. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad will strive to make a comeback after experiencing a loss in their previous game.

       Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and have elected to bat.

As Ashutosh Sharma sealed Delhi Capitals' first win with a shot down the ground, he celebrated with a fake switch-hit, dedicating the victory to team mentor Kevin Pietersen. The DC dugout was jubilant, and their captain stated that this aggressive tactic would prevail. 

The lengthy break since their opening game against Lucknow Super Giants would have enabled DC to settle down, reflect on their strategies, and consolidate their winning start. In contrast, Sunrisers face a challenging short turnaround time from their loss to LSG, as they seek to avoid consecutive losses following their five-wicket defeat at home on Thursday. Rishabh Pant's decision to ask Sunrisers to bat demonstrated remarkable boldness, and the bowlers validated his call at the toss with a clever performance that stunned the SRH batting arsenal. If DC wins the toss, will they replicate this boldness by putting SRH into bat in Vizag, where the square boundaries are relatively short? The return of KL Rahul will undoubtedly boost DC's morale, but their top order performance in the previous game raises concerns, given that none of their top five reached 30 while chasing 210 against LSG (with three single-digit scores). They will aim to rectify this statistic on Sunday, while SRH seeks to put their disappointing batting performance against LSG behind them and resume their prolific run-scoring ways.

    Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Zeeshan Ansari, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar

RR vs KKR