Virat Kohli: Can the famous Number 18 win the elusive title in IPL 18th season? With the cricket fraternity eagerly awaiting the tournament opener on Saturday between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, everyone will be curious to observe the performances of the 10 franchises in this year’s IPL, as the teams were completely transformed after last year’s mega auction in Saudi Arabia.
Highlights
To the extent that even Shreyas Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to their first title since 2014 last year, takes over as captain of Punjab Kings this year hoping to become the first player to lift two trophies in succession with two different teams.
Now, with each auction you have to change the teams, but the mega auction, held every three years where franchises are allowed to retain a limited amount of players, will provide the facelift to the teams.
As for cricket’s most high-profile T20 tournament, this has been a constant change. However, one thing that has not changed since the inaugural season back in 2008 is Virat Kohli, an Indian living cricketing legend in the colors of Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Several players have played for one IPL team in their careers, but none have managed to play for the same team for the longest time like this.
The man who dons the jersey number 18 for RCB and India, Virat Kohli would be hoping to record the first title of the IPL for his franchise, now that this is the 18th season of the league.
The perennial underachievers were close to claiming the title on 3 occasions (2009, 2011 & 2016) only to come up short at the final hurdle.
For new captain Rajat Patidar alongside Virat Kohli — this is a big season for the team. After the horror show in the Aussie test series, the 36-year-old reinvigorated himself with a couple of brilliant knocks in India’s successful Champions Trophy and is now at the crossroad.
“Its really only boils down to the raw pleasure and enjoyment and competitiveness and love of the game. As long as that is there I will keep playing — Virat Kohli.
“So far, so good, as far as today goes. I still enjoy playing the game.
RCB fans will be hoping that their maestro, who finished as the highest-scoring batsman last season with 741 runs, can rediscover the old magic with the bat.
Also part of this year’s league is 13-year-old batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who was bought for $130,500 by Rajasthan Royals in the mega auction.
The reception Hardik Pandya receives from the Mumbai Indians faithful will also be interesting considering the Indian all-rounder was booed at home matches last year for overshadowing crowd favourite Rohit Sharma.
So strap yourself in for another season of bat vs. ball where hopefully the TV ratings will translate into some thrilling contests as well.
And if the Virat Kohli-inspired RCB finally get their hands on that elusive piece of silverware come May 25 you’ll be partying all night in Bengaluru.
IPL 2025: Everything you need to know
When:
The IPL is in its 18th season this time which is underway from March 22 to May 25.
Format:
The 10 teams taking part are divided into two groups. Group stage winner; Group stage, Each team get 14 matches in total, Two games being home and away against the teams in their own group (a total of five teams in each group) and against the team in the same line of row in the reverse group (from 1 to 4) as well as one match each against schools and in opposite group, 14 matches in the group level.
The playoffs will perform as per the richest table of the highest four teams of the unified table. ‘Qualifier 1’: The top two teams face off, with the winner advancing to the final
Elimination, qualifying: The teams that finish second and third advance straight to qualify for 2, which means they face the loser of qualifier one.
Group 1: Kolkata Knight Riders | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Rajasthan Royals | Chennai Super Kings | Punjab Kings Group 2 has Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians and Lucknow SuperGiants.
WHERE:
The franchises are placed in different cities of India and the IPL is conducted on their HomeTown. But some teams may opt to share their home games across two or more cities.
The 2025 tournament will be held in 13 venues.
The opening fixture, ’Qualifier 2′ and the final will be held at Eden Gardens, the home of the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders. Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator will be played at Sunrisers Hyderabad, who finished second in the table last season.
Teams:
Chennai Super Kings
Captain: Ruturaj Gaikwad
Coach: Stephen Fleming
Best performance: Champions (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023)
Delhi Capitals
Captain: Axar Patel
Coach: Hemang Badani
Best Performance: Runners-up (2020)
Gujarat Titans
Captain: Shubman Gill
Coach: Ashish Nehra
Best performance: Champions (2022)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Captain: Ajinkya Rahane
Coach: Chandrakant Pandit
Best performance: Champions (2012, 2014, 2024)
Lucknow Super Giants
Captain: Rishabh Pant
Coach: Justin Langer
Best performance: Playoffs (2022, 2023)
Mumbai Indians
Captain: Hardik Pandya
Coach: Mahela Jayawardene
Best performance: Champions (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020)
Punjab Kings
Captain: Shreyas Iyer
Coach: Ricky Ponting
Best performance: Runners-up (2014)
Rajasthan Royals
Captain: Sanju Samson
Coach: Rahul Dravid
Best performance: Champions (2008)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Captain: Rajat Patidar
Coach: Andy Flower
Best performance: Runners-up (2009, 2011, 2016)
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Captain: Pat Cummins
Coach: Daniel Vettori
Best performance: Champions (2016)
Who are playing this weekend?
March 22 (Saturday)
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Kolkata)
6 pm UAE Time
March 23 (Sunday)
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals (Hyderabad)
2 pm UAE Time
March 23 (Sunday)
Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians
(Chennai)
6 pm UAE Time