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The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is all set to begin on Saturday, March 22, with an exciting clash between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens. However, the much-anticipated season opener faces a major threat of cancellation due to adverse weather conditions.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an Orange Alert for March 22, warning of heavy rain and thunderstorms across South Bengal from Thursday through Sunday. Additionally, a Yellow Alert has been put in place for March 23, raising concerns about potential disruptions to the match and the tournament’s opening ceremony.
A shortened match is still possible owing to Eden Gardens’ sophisticated drainage system, but unpredictable weather might still have a say in determining the season opener.
The weather forecast suggests a high chance of rain throughout the evening, so delays or even a washout can't be ruled out.
As per the IPL guidelines, the league-stage matches can be extended for one-hour which means that the cut-off time for five overs match is 10:56 pm but the play needs to be concluded at 12:06 am.
Ajinkya Rahane, new captain of KKR, is likely to slot into the No. 4 position, a spot left by Shreyas Iyer. Having done that job before at CSK to great success, Rahane can provide stability and maturity to the batting line.
Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
An orange alert suggests severe weather, with temps 20.94°C-31.93°C, 46-70% humidity, and winds up to 46 km/h. Match disruptions likely.
"Thank you Ajinkya for joining us and being our captai. God bless you and I hope you will find good home here and play well with all of us."
🚨 NOT A GOOD NEWS FROM KOLKATA 🚨- It's dark clouds and the weather is not good right now. (RevSportz).pic.twitter.com/3ZFiXpvLXT
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) March 22, 2025
𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚, 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚! 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 👑💜 pic.twitter.com/AgUJz8liDz— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 22, 2025
A little rain won’t stop us! 🌧 The ground’s got its cozy cover, and the drainage system will be ready to save the day 𝘒𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘪 𝘠𝘦𝘩 𝘐𝘗𝘓 𝘩𝘢𝘪, 𝘺𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘣 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪!#iplonjiostar 👉 SEASON OPENER #kkrvrcb | SAT, 22nd March, 5:30 PM | LIVE on… pic.twitter.com/UwdonS9FeN
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 21, 2025
The chances of rain is currently 38%!
Its been raining in Kolkata since the last two days and this is going to be a big problem as more moisture will be there which will directly affect the playing conditions.
Scattered showers are likely in parts adjacent to Kolkata till noon, and light showers in the evening.
Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh.
Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Chetan Sakariya, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali.
The KKR vs RCB IPL 2025 match will be held on March 22 on Saturday. The match will start at 7:30 pm IST and the toss is scheduled at 7:00 pm IST.
The Eden Gardens groundstaff have covered the playing surface since Thursday to protect the pitch. Practice sessions for both teams were cut short on Friday due to drizzle, forcing players indoors. Persistent rain could alter pitch behavior, making it more bowler-friendly despite its reputation as a batting paradise in recent IPL seasons.
It seems like the rain will soon start poring down heavily leaving it even more tough for the match to start without disruptions.
Moisture under covers could help pacers generate extra bounce and swing, impacting power-hitters like Andre Russell, Quinton de Kock, and Virat Kohli.
The toss is scheduled to be held at 7:00 pm IST and by then its very important for the weather to be clear.
It is raining again in Kolkata and the weather seems to be in no mood to get better. The weather will now affect the pitch conditions as well.
The IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony has a star-studded lineup which includes Shreya Ghoshal, Karan Aujla, Disha Patani and many more.
The IPL 2025 Opening Ceremony will be starting at 6:00 pm IST and the fans can watch the broadcast live on Star Sports while the live streaming will be available on JioHotstar app and website.
Nearly 4 km from Eden Gardens, This is the situation of weather as of 10:00 AM. Windy situation, the sky is bit cloudy, but no rain as of now...#kkrvsrcb #kkrvrcb #shahrukhkhan #edensgardengame #kolkata #kolkataweather #kolkatarain #ipl2025 #viratkohli pic.twitter.com/aPjwHpu3Tn
— Amit Yadav (@amity6082) March 22, 2025
KKR and RCB have played 34 matches out of which KKR has emerged to be dominant and won 20 matches.
There was drizzle in the evening which brought an abrupt end to the evening practice session in Kolkata. The ground staff came in action and covered the ground.
As I am from Kolkata, the weather is not looking that neat rn as winds are blowing heavily with small batches of rain happening frequently.
— MAYANKxx.. (@smayank2607) March 22, 2025
Nearly 4 km from Eden Gardens, This is the situation of weather as of 10:00 AM. Windy situation, the sky is bit cloudy, but no rain as of now.#kkrvsrcb Rain #kkrvrcb #shahrukhkhan #edensgardengame #kolkata #kolkataweather #kolkatarain #ipl2025 pic.twitter.com/M799kQKqoR
— Md Afshan Khurshid (@AfshanMd) March 22, 2025
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Kolkata and the surrounding area, with predictions of rain, thunderstorms, and gusty winds during the day. The opening ceremony, to be held prior to the match, is also vulnerable to disruption.
Good Morning and welcome to the live updates about Kolkata weather. There are only a few hours left for the IPL 2025 to start and the weather has become extremely challenging and it can cause disruptions in the first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
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