The Indian Premier League returns for the 2025 edition on Saturday, and it is back with a bang as the Kolkata Knight Riders take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Kolkata, the defending champions, are under new leadership after releasing title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer, with Ajinkya Rahane taking over as skipper.

Their first opponents RCB, meanwhile, have at their helm Virat Kohli, who is still in the hunt for his first IPL title, and the first of 74 matches in this year's competition is a must-watch.

There are plenty of other stories to look out for too, from MS Dhoni's pursuit of a record-equalling sixth title to 13-year-old batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi hoping to see action for Rajasthan Royals.

As the build-up to the 2025 IPL continues, we run the rule over the defending champions, challengers and players to watch.

Mark your calendars, folks! #TATAIPL 2025 kicks off on March  with a clash between @KKRiders and @RCBTweets 

When is your favourite team's first match?  pic.twitter.com/f2tf3YcSyY

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 16, 2025

THE CHAMPIONS

Kolkata Knight Riders

After two years out of the playoffs, the Knight Riders captured their third IPL crown in 2024, moving within two titles of the all-time leaders, the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

Nine wins from 14 league-stage matches and a net run rate of 1.428 – far better than second-best RCB's 0.459 – demonstrated Kolkata's dominance last year, which they backed up with the fastest-ever final chase (57 balls remaining) against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Captain Iyer may have moved onto pastures new in November's auction following his release, but KKR retained the majority of their title-winning team, including West Indies captain Sunil Narine, who became the IPL's first three-time MVP last year.

Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh have also stayed on, as has Varun Chakaravarthy, who was joint-second for wickets taken (nine) and first for bowling average (15.11) as India won this year's Champions Trophy.

Rahane's experience should ensure teething problems under their new skipper are kept to a minimum, while Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz are eye-catching additions that should boost KKR's firepower. 

They should be there or thereabouts again.

THE CHALLENGERS

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

RCB are one of just three teams to feature in all 17 IPL seasons but never lift the trophy, alongside Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings. They have made the playoffs four times in the last five years but fallen short of the final on every occasion.

But a run of six successive wins to make the Eliminator in 2024 offered hope for the future, and RCB will hope to go further under new captain Rajat Patidar this campaign.

What will not change is RCB's reliance on their star-studded batting order, led by Kohli, Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone. 

Kohli, the IPL's all-time leading run scorer, surpassed 8,000 tournament runs last year (now on 8,003), with his return of 741 runs being the fifth-most prolific campaign in competition history – his own return of 973 in 2016 remains unchallenged. 

His average of 61.75 last year was his best in an IPL season since that 2016 campaign (81.08), while his strike rate of 154.7 was his best ever. With Kohli in their ranks, RCB are not to be discounted. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad 

Sunrisers Hyderabad enter the 2025 competition with a point to prove. Having stormed to their first IPL final in six years in 2024, they put up the lowest score ever recorded in the tournament's showpiece match, being bundled out for just 113 in 18.3 overs.

In Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, they boast an opening duo that smashed 691 runs in last year's IPL at an average of 49.35. Their run rate of 13.46 since the start of 2024 is the highest of any partnership to post at least 350 runs in the format during that time.

A lack of depth behind that pair was their main issue last year, but the addition of Abhinav Manohar to their middle order – which already features 2024 breakout player of the season Nitish Kumar Reddy and the ever-reliable Heinrich Klaasen – should help on that front.

Mohammed Shami – another star of India's Champions Trophy campaign – is one of three seasoned bowlers to join Pat Cummins' side, alongside Harshal Patel and Adam Zampa.

Sunrisers posted three of the top four scores in IPL history last season, capped by a record 287-3 versus RCB. With their explosive batters getting more balanced support, they are among the favourites. 

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai have been in the wilderness since winning back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020, finishing bottom of the league for the second time last year.

There was still some surprise when Rohit Sharma – who has won five of his six IPL crowns as Mumbai captain – was replaced as skipper last year, but his successor has more recent experience of leading a team to glory.

Hardik Pandya left Mumbai in 2021 and immediately led the newly formed Gujarat Titans to the 2022 title, becoming the first captain since the inaugural 2008 edition to lift the trophy with a debutant team.

With a star-studded top order in place, the Indians should come out firing. Since the 2023 IPL, Rohit (142.15), Tilak Varma (141.02) and Suryakumar Yadav (168.04) have combined for a strike rate of 150.62 through the first 14 overs, and Mumbai have added big-hitting South Africa opener Ryan Rickelton to the mix, too.

With Hardik back and plenty of firepower available, is this the year the IPL's sleeping giant finally wakes up?  

Chennai Super Kings

The other franchise to have won five IPL titles, Chennai, finished a disappointing fifth in their first season with Ruturaj Gaikwad taking captaincy responsibilities last year.

Ruturaj will hope for better this time around, though there was little wrong with his individual performances last term as he averaged 53 and finished second to Kohli (741) in the top run-scoring charts.

With Devon Conway back from injury, Rachin Ravindra coming off the back of a tournament-best 263 runs at the Champions Trophy and a series of reliable all-rounders in situ, CSK should improve in 2025.

If they can go all the way, Dhoni could join Sharma and ex-CSK batsman Ambati Rayudu as just the third player to win six IPL titles.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Shreyas Iyer

Iyer enjoyed one of his best-ever IPL campaigns with the bat last year, putting up his best average yet (39). 

He became the competition's most expensive player when joining Punjab Kings for 26.75 crore (£2.51million) in the auction and will be expected to play a starring role for a team that posted its worst season since 2016 last year, finishing with a 5-9 record.

Rishabh Pant

Iyer was not the IPL's record buy for long, as the Lucknow Super Giants shelled out 27 crore (£2.54m) for India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

Pant hit 446 runs for the Capitals in a comeback 2024 campaign, after recovering from serious injuries he sustained in a car crash in December 2022. 

Injury concerns in LSG's bowling corps have provided cause for concern, and if they are to make the playoffs for a third time in their fourth season, Pant will need to be the driving force.

𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵-𝘂𝗽 

The  skippers gather for the #TATAIPL 2025 Captains’ Meet. pic.twitter.com/x987lO15Ew

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 20, 2025

Jos Buttler

Buttler, who resigned as captain of England's white-ball teams following their miserable group-stage exit at the Champions Trophy, is another high-profile movers.

He was not retained by Rajasthan Royals, who fell at the penultimate hurdle last year against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier.

His new team, the Titans, had the lowest PowerPlay run rate (7.72) and the worst combined batting average of middle-order batsmen (22.18) in the IPL last year, so he will need to lead from the front. 

Harshal Patel

Representing Punjab, Patel won the Purple Cap – awarded to the IPL's leading wicket-taker – for the second time in 2024 with 24 dismissals.

Having also won the award with RCB in 2021, he is the only player to top the wicket-taking standings with two different teams, and after joining Sunrisers, he could become the first three-time recipient of the prize this year.

Jasprit Bumrah

Only Patel (24) and Chakaravarthy (21) bettered Bumrah's 20 wickets in the 2024 edition of the IPL, while he also bowled the most dot balls (149) and the second-best bowling economy (6.48, behind Nathan Ellis' 6.00 for Punjab) in the competition.

If Mumbai are to have a comeback season, he will be key.