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CSK, RCB Or...? Who Is Likely To Play The First Match Of IPL 2025?

Probuddha Bhattacharjee∙ Updated: Jan 17 2025, 7:52 PM

Hardik Pandya and Ruturaj Gaikwad in IPL [Source: iplt20.com]Hardik Pandya and Ruturaj Gaikwad in IPL [Source: iplt20.com]

The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League is already creating a buzz among the fans. The governing body of Cricket in India i.e., the Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI), has already announced the starting date for the upcoming edition. IPL 2025 is scheduled to start from 21st March, 2025.

Even though the tournament's starting date has been revealed, BCCI has yet to reveal the schedule for the tournament. Therefore, there is no confirmation as to which two teams will be playing the first game of the upcoming edition. However, if we look at the trend of the inaugural matches of the last five editions we can get an idea about which two teams might play in that clash.

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Trend Of Teams Playing In The Opening Matches Of Last 5 IPL Seasons

IPL Season
Previous Season Champion
Teams In The First Match Of The Season
Teams In Final Of Previous Season
2024Chennai Super Kings (2023)RCB vs CSKCSK vs GT (2023)
2023Gujarat Titans (2022)CSK vs GTGT vs RR (2022)
2022Chennai Super Kings (2021)CSK vs KKRCSK vs KKR (2021)
2021
Mumbai Indians (2020)MI vs RCBMI vs CSK (2020)
2020Mumbai Indians (2019)MI vs CSKDC vs MI (2019)

So, if we look at the two teams playing in the first match of each season that we that the champions of the last season have been one of the participants in almost all occasions barring the 2022 and 2024 seasons. Keeping this trend in mind, we can say the Kolkata Knight Riders, the champions of IPL 2024 could be one of teams in the inaugural match of the upcoming season.

As for the other team, it seems that BCCI have kept the popularity of the teams in mind while determining the participant. The reason could be, that they want a blockbuster start to the season and hence try to keep one of the popular teams in the opening clash. Therefore in most cases, we have seen Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings or the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first contest of the IPL season.

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Hence, we can deduce that probably one of MI, CSK or RCB will be playing the first match of IPL 2025 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. 

Venue Of The First Match Of IPL 2025

Generally the first game of IPL is played at the home ground of the previous year champions. Keeping that mind in, it is possible that the inaugural match of IPL 2025 will be played at the iconic Eden Gardens as KKR were the champions previous year. However, this also depends on the state cricket board and the availability of the ground, so it is subject to change.