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The eighth match of the IPL 2025 season will host Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 28. Indian Standard Time (IST) at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Both sides won their opening games of the season. The RCB defeated the reigning champions, KKR, and CSK overcame their archrivals, the .

(RCB) showed unbelievable determination in their opening match. The opening pair of Phil Salt and Virat Kohli got off to a blazing start in chasing 175 runs, amassing 80 in the powerplay without losing a wicket. Both ended up in their respective fifties. Salt hit 56 off 31, while Kohli stayed undefeated with 59 off 36.

Their bowling department also did amazing work in their first match and they are looking to carry forward their momentum in the match against CSK.

IPL 2025 RCB Confirmed Playing XI vs CSK

Top Order

Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar ©

Middle Order

Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya

Bowlers 

Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, and Yash Dayal.

Impact Player

Devdutt Padikkal

Opening pair

Virat Kohli and Philip Salt will start their innings for RCB like the last match and both players get a great start in the opening match. Both Virat Kohli and Philip Salt displayed their aggressiveness while batting and scored with a good strike rate.

Phil Salt and Virat Kohli had a blazing start in chasing 175 runs, amassing 80 in the powerplay without losing a wicket. Both finally reached their respective fifties. Salt hit 56 off 31, including nine boundaries and two over boundaries, with a strike rate of 180. Kohli stayed undefeated with 59 off 36, including four boundaries and three over boundaries, with a strike rate of 163.

Devdutt Padikkal at NO 3

Devdutt Padikkal came up as an impact player in the match against . But he fell short of showcasing his impact in this match. He was just able to score 10 runs in 10 balls and give his wicket to Sunil Narine.

Middle Order

RCB’s new captain,, was in top form as a batter and skipper. Even though it was his first IPL captaincy, he made some excellent tactical decisions. He later scored 34 runs off 16 balls with a strike rate of 212, hitting five boundaries and one over boundaries.

English all-rounder Liam Livingstone played an all-round performance in the opening match. While bowling, he was very impactful; he only conceded 14 runs in two overs. With the bat, he finished the game on a high note, scoring 15 runs in just 5 balls with a strike rate of 300, hitting 2 fours and one six. He displayed tremendous aggressiveness and power-hitting.

Jitesh Sharma and Tim David didn’t get the opportunity to showcase their batting display. Both of these players are known for their aggressive batting nature and power-hitting, which could be needed in their next match against CSK.

New signing Krunal Pandya made chaos for the Knight Riders with his left-arm orthodox spin bowling. Pandya claimed 3 wickets for 29 runs in four overs with an economy of 7.25. He would like to make the most of the pitch in Chennai.

Bowlers

The young pacer Rasikh Dar Salam gave the second breakthrough to the KKR by taking Sunil Narine’s wickets, who was looking dangerous while batting. This was his only wicket in that match; he bowled 3 overs, conceded 35 runs, and took one wicket.

The newcomer Suyash Sharma played his debut match for RCB against his former team. He went expensive in the economy rate but took the important wicket of Andre Russell. This spin-friendly pitch of Chennai will be very helpful for him to take some wickets.

Josh Hazlewood was outstanding for RCB with both the new and old ball, grabbing two wickets for 22 runs with the most effective economy of 5.50. He dismissed Quinton de Kock in the opening over and Harshit Rana in his final over.

Yash Dayal bowled well in the previous match; he bowled 3 overs, conceded 25 runs, and took 1 wicket. If he maintains his line and length, he could be a lethal bowler.

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