Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) since the inaugural season in 2008. They have been one of the three teams to have won the title three or more times. In fact, they are the defending champions and will enter in the 18th edition (IPL 2025) as the reigning champions.
The Kolkata-based franchise is jointly owned by Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and Jay Mehta. They will be gearing up to win their fourth title in the IPL 2025 when they step on Eden Gardens in the tournament's opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 22 (Saturday).
KKR will enter the new season with a new captain as they have released Shreyas Iyer, who led them to the championship in 2024. Though there is still a number of candidates for the captaincy role, which is likely to be revealed pretty soon. Here we will talk about Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), their schedule, squad, and many more ahead of IPL 2025. For the upcoming season of IPL 2025, You can visit Zamsino India to information concerning different betting types, strategies and tool usage for ultimate prediction approach.
IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders Preview
After finishing the 2022 and 2023 editions in the group stage, not many gave KKR a chance in 2024. But the franchise made a masterstroke of bringing in former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir as the mentor. That changed everything, and the brilliant combination helped them to become a formidable squad. KKR have retained their core players, and they will be looking to replicate what they did in 2024.
Though Gambhir and Iyer are not available this season, KKR will enter the IPL 2025 as one of the top contenders to win the title. KKR have made sure that the players that performed well for them are in the team and added a few more utility players. There are high chances that Venkatesh Iyer is likely to become the new KKR captain.
KKR also had a brilliant IPL 2025 mega auction. They broke their back to resign Venkatesh Iyer and spent INR 23.75 crore on him. Apart from him, KKR also signed Moeen Ali (INR 2 crore), Umran Malik (INR 75 lakh), Quinton de Kock (INR. 3.60 crore), Rovman Powell (Rs. 1.50 crore), Manish Pandey (Rs. 75 lakh), Spencer Johnson (Rs. 2.80 crore), and Ajinkya Rahane (Rs. 1.50 lakh).
IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad
We might see Venkatesh Iyer as a possible captain for KKR in the IPL 2025. The franchise retained six players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction: Rinku Singh (Rs 13 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore), and Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 crore).
Apart from having a good set of retentions, KKR also added some big overseas stars like Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Anrich Nortje, Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, and Spencer Johnson. They have also signed some exciting Indian names like Umran Malik, Manish Pandey, Anjikya Rahane, and others. KKR have a strength of 19 players for the coming season. Below you can see the list of players that will play for KKR in the IPL 2025.
Signed Players: Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 Cr), Quinton de Kock (Rs 3.6 Cr), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Rs 2 Cr), Anrich Nortje (Rs 6.5 Cr), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Rs 3 Cr), Rovman Powell (Rs 1.50 Cr), Manish Pandey (Rs 75 L), Spencer Johnson (Rs 2.80 Cr), Anukul Roy (Rs 40 L), Moeen Ali (Rs 2 Cr), Ajinkya Rahane (Rs 1.50 Cr), Lunith Sisodia (Rs 30 L), Umran Malik (Rs 75 L)
Retained Players: Rinku Singh (Rs 13 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore), and Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 crore)
IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Schedule
The defending champion will play 14 group matches. They will play seven matches at home and seven away games. KKR will feature in the tournament's opener on March 22 against RCB. Their last group match will be up against RCB on May 17 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Below, you can see the schedule for KKR in the IPL 2025.
Match 1: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Mar 22, Saturday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 6: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Mar 26, Wednesday
Venue: Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 12: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Mar 31, Monday
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 15: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Apr 03, Thursday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 19: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants
Apr 06, Sunday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 3:30 PM (IST)
Match 25: Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Apr 11, Friday
Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 31: Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Apr 15, Tuesday
Venue: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 39: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans
Apr 21, Monday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 44: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings
Apr 26, Saturday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 48: Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Apr 29, Tuesday
Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 53: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
May 04, Sunday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 3:30 PM (IST)
Match 57: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings
May 07, Wednesday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 60: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders
May 10, Saturday
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Match 68: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders
May 17, Saturday
Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
Note: If KKR qualifies for the playoffs, they will play more games. The Qualifier 2 and final are scheduled to play at Eden Gardens on May 23 and 25, respectively.
