Salt: Feeling good, haven't played since a while. Pretty excited to be back. It (power-hitting) is not the thing, I try first during my practice sessions. More than anything else, it's the basics of batting. I am making sure I am aligned and hitting the ball where it comes from. Definitely one of those things I do regularly, in every training session. Just try to stay on top of it. The enjoyment's in everything it takes to get there. I always think back to moments like these (when I do well in the training session). I always think about the basics I have put in before I go into a game. It's all about discipline. There's a sea of people here at the Chinnaswamy, you see it when you come through, we got unbelievable home support here. Every game we have that must-win mentality. It's pretty infectious what comes from the fan base. It's a case of winning three more in the group stages and see where we end up from there. We have not spoken much about it (Virat Kohli's Test retirement), Virat isn't someone to speak about it (at this moment.) It's all about the playoffs and group stages, that's the focus.

Andre Russell: It’s a very good feeling to be a part of this amazing tournament and quick turnaround for us after a week or so, we are here, excited to play some games. (On the break before the restart) It breaks our momentum but we are professionals and we are used to travelling from one country to another and we are used to play the next day so mentally I know how to switch on and to switch off for the last couple of days, it helps us mentally and it helps me as an individual to reflect and take a break. But, the moment I came to practice two days ago and start hitting and making sure the body is up and running again, it has to do with a strong mindset. It’s easy when you have the mindset, you might be coming off two losses, we are made for this, we look towards the future and think about the next game coming up. We have the mindset to be on the par when the team needs us, we as a team are up for the challenge. A few games before the break, I find my mojo and I have been getting opportunities to bat a bit earlier and once I bat earlier, with the batters behind coming me, I know I can be dangerous. Yesterday in practice, I hit the ball very well, I hit two out of the park. There might be some rain around but we are prepared to play our best cricket, we need the two points and hopefully, we will come out with a win tonight.

"There was a cheer as someone with a massive umbrella with IPL branding walked out to the middle," says Prakash. "But turns out he came to fully cover up the spidercam that was taking the brunt of the rain till now."

6.20pm local: Hello hello! With a reworked schedule and a few replacements for various teams, the IPL is set to resume after a 10-day break with RCB taking on KKR at the Chinnaswamy, although we're getting news of rain in Bengaluru which may extend the wait a little longer.

Preview by Prakash Govindasreenivasan

Nearly an hour and a half into RCB's training session at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Friday, Virat Kohli joined the batting group for a hit. A couple of crisp straight drives and pull shots later, there was a brief break in play. He wasn't happy. His arrival to the practice pitch, even in an empty stadium, coincided with the sound system blaring the RCB team song. He conveyed his annoyance to enough people around him to shut it down and restore silence, interspersed with the sound of the ball hitting the bat and the ambient conversations.

He will not have such luck or command over the proceedings come Saturday, when the IPL resumes after an eight-day break at a venue where the partisan crowd will come armed with heightened vigour. In this week of non-action, Kohli walked away from Test cricket with a simple Instagram post about it, and is now in for a rousing tribute from the RCB faithful who have plans of turning up in white.

RCB's two wins in five home games don't do justice to how well their fans routinely raise the roof here - there's an unwavering consistency to the unabashed support they've dished out year after year. It must be deja vu for so many of them, as the anticipation for the first title is on the rise once again with RCB sitting pretty at second spot. Between singing praise for Kohli and his Test career, and vociferously getting behind the team for a third home victory that will secure a playoffs spot, emotions for the home section are bound to fly in a different stratosphere.

Kolkata Knight Riders' inconsistency this season has robbed their fans - capable of being as passionate - of such joys. They've been displaced from the emotional roller coaster with a gratifying finish of last season and strapped onto a ride of complete frustration. The highs of last May, where a third title was secured, have been followed by the abject lows of failing to stitch together even two successive victories until late April this season. Their campaign hangs by the flimsiest of threads, which could break even if they cap it off with two wins in two.

When: RCB vs KKR, IPL 2025, May 17, 7:30 PM IST

Where: M Chinnaswamy stadium, Bengaluru

What to expect:Thunderstorms and a start-stop game? There's showers in the offing on Saturday evening, but if they're just passing and not persistent, the immaculate drainage system at the venue should ensure a game - truncated or otherwise - happens. There was a forecast for rain on Friday evening too, but it stayed away in this part of the city.

Head to head: RCB 15 - 20 KKR. At this venue, KKR have won eight of the 12 games. Since 2023, KKR have four wins in five outings.

Team Watch

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Injuries/Unavailabilities: Rajat Patidar batted on two days in the lead-up to the fixture. Mo Bobat, RCB's director of cricket, revealed that the short break in the season helped with the healing process of the hand injury that Patidar sustained at the previous home game, against CSK. Phil Salt also batted long sessions and came through alright after having missed the last two fixtures through illness.

Josh Hazlewood is the only RCB player who hasn't joined the squad as his recovery from the shoulder niggle continues in Australia.

Tactics & Matchups: Ajinkya Rahane has been phenomenal in the PowerPlay this season, scoring 223 runs in this phase at a strike rate of 187.39. Should he arrive early, Patidar might be inclined to chuck Bhuvneshwar Kumar at him. The senior fast bowler has conceded just 104 runs off 117 deliveries to Rahane, and dismissed him seven times.

Probable XII: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell/Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam/Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma

Kolkata Knight Riders

Injuries/Unavailabilities: Moeen Ali and Rovman Powell haven't rejoined the squad for the resumption. Mooen, who played in KKR's previous two fixtures, could be replaced by Anukul Roy. Against RCB's right-handed heavy top-order, Ajinkya Rahane could get some key overs of left-arm spin from Anukul.

Manish Pandey had replaced Venkatesh Iyer in KKR's previous fixture. Both spent considerable time in the nets on Friday and it could still be a toss up between the two for a middle-order spot.

Tactics & Matchups: Kohli's scoring rate against spin has seen a marked improvement recently [108.2 in 2020-23 and 136.34 in 2024-25], setting up an intriguing match-up against two of the best in the league from KKR. He has scored 136 against Narine in IPL but at a strike rate of just 105.42, while also getting out four times. Those numbers are only marginally better against Varun CV, with 55 off 48 and one dismissal.

Patidar, meanwhile, has slowed down against spin as the season has progressed this year. After getting 57 off 33 against them in the first four games of the season, he has managed just 33 off 35 in the next five, even getting out thrice.

Probable XII: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey/Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Varun CV, Harshit Rana

Did you know?

- KKR have the best economy rate (7.41), best dot ball percentage (35.9) and the lowest boundary percentage (13.11) in IPL 2025

- Varun CV has picked 10 wickets in the middle-overs in IPL 2025 - joint-second best tally with Kuldeep Yadav

- RCB have been the most destructive batting side in the death overs (16-20) with a scoring rate of 11.97

What they said:

"Virat's just business as usual, as he always is. There's enough of the public and the nation's attention on him, he doesn't want any more of that. He just wants to get on with his business. He's usually ambitious about what we can achieve this year with RCB and that's what he does." - Mo Bobat on Virat Kohli.

"I just think last time [in 2024] we were winning games, we won a lot of games which is very important in a tournament like IPL. This time we were winning one, we were losing one. The whole tournament has been like that." - Manish Pandey on KKR's woes as defending champions.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Mayank Markande, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Spencer Johnson, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Venkatesh Iyer, Rovman Powell, Chetan Sakariya

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Liam Livingstone, Swapnil Singh, Philip Salt, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh, Nuwan Thushara, Josh Hazlewood