Best KKR Playing 11 for IPL 2025

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be looking to become only the third team to defend the title when they launch their campaign in IPL 2025. Earlier this year, they won the IPL for the third time and the first time since 2014.

The Kolkata-based outfit thoroughly dominated the competition and were the deserved winner. The upcoming season, however, looks set to be a challenging one. With their captain Shreyas Iyer departing and several other key players such as Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc not a part of the team anymore, KKR will have their task cut out in IPL 2025.

In the recently concluded IPL 2025 auction, they also bolstered their squad with a number of big signings such as Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. So as Kolkata Knight Riders eyes their fourth IPL title, we are taking a look at the KKR Playing 11 for IPL 2025.

Kolkata Knight Riders squad:

Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Anrich Nortje, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Umran Malik.

KKR Playing 11 for IPL 2025:

Openers: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock

With Phil Salt going to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kolkata Knight Riders will have a new opening pair for the upcoming IPL 2025 season. While Sunil Narine is expected to open the innings once again, South Africa's Quinton de Kock is likely to be his partner.

Narine and Salt's partnership at the top of the order was one of the main reasons behind KKR's success last year and the reigning champions would be hoping for a similar performance from their openers again. In Narine, they have a player who can just blow away any opposition while de Kock is equally dangerous.

Middle-order batsmen and allrounders: Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh

With the likes of Nitish Rana and Shreyas Iyer no more a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders camp, Angkrish Raghuvanshi is likely to get more chances this year. The youngster made his IPL debut last year and hit the ground running. He scored a fifty on his debut and will be looking to impress once again. If not Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane could also be a good option for no.3.

After paying more than 23 crore for Venkatesh Iyer, KKR will be hoping that he justifies his price tag. Things have not gone well for Rinku Singh in recent times and the southpaw will be looking to be the main man for KKR's middle-order in IPL 2025.

Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh are likely to be the two other two names in the middle-order. The onus will be on the big-hitting duo to provide the finishing touches with the bat.

Bowlers: Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora

Kolkata Knight Riders is likely to play most of its games with three frontline pacers and a spinner in the team.

The three pacers are set to be Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Anrich Nortje while Varun Chakravarthy will be the spinner. The likes of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell will be the other bowling options.