Defending champions eliminated from playoffs race as RCB vs KKR IPL 2025 clash gets washed out

Indian Premier League (IPL) defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been officially eliminated from the 2025 campaign after their clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) was called off. Rain had the final say at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, May 17, as both teams shared a point each to kickstart the final leg of the season.

After their loss to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Eden Gardens, which took place right before the tournament's suspension, KKR had to win all of their remaining matches to stay alive in the race for the playoffs. The defending champions had 11 points after 12 matches, and could have reached a maximum tally of 15.

Even then, they would have needed an overwhelming majority of the remaining results to go their way. But now, after availing just one point from the clash against RCB, the Ajinkya Rahane-led side can only accumulate a maximum tally of 13 points, which will not prove to be enough.

KKR, who romped their way to the title in 2024, had to release a majority of their high-performing stars. The likes of Phil Salt, Mitchell Starc, and Shreyas Iyer went to new franchises, as the Men in Purple had a new unit around their core. Furthermore, they also had to deal with their mentor Gautam Gambhir leaving to accept the Team India head coach position during the off-season.

Under Ajinkya Rahane as their skipper, KKR began their campaign with a tame defeat against RCB at their home. Although they secured a dominant nine-wicket win in their next outing against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), they never found the desired momentum. KKR did not record consecutive wins in the first half of the campaign, and they had to play catch-up in the latter half.

KKR will face SRH in the final match of their IPL 2025 campaign on May 25

KKR will conclude their season with a clash against the already eliminated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday, May 25 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

The Men in Purple do not have any major unavailability concerns for the clash, barring the absence of overseas all-rounders Moeen Ali and Rovman Powell, who did not re-join the squad for the final leg after suspension.