India vs South Africa, Warm-up, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: Preview, H2H stats, when and where to watch in India?

India vs South Africa warm-up match preview with head-to-head stats, pitch report, probable playing XIs, and when & where to watch live in India.

Team India (Image Credit: BCCI)

India and South Africa will meet in their one and only warm-up game in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. Whle India are placed in Group A, the Proteas are in Group D. Hence, they are most likely to meet in the Super 8 stage if they qualify. The ICC has scheduled 16 warm-up matches before the start of the marquee event on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka. Similarly, the matches will be held in Navi Mumbai, Colombo, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

Surprisingly, England and Sri Lanka will not participate in the warm-up matches with no particular reasons revealed. The rest of the teams shall play in the duration of a week. India A will play two matches, one against the USA and the other against Namibia. Meanwhile, India are set to play in just a single game.

Match details

Match: India vs South Africa, Warm-up match

Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2026.

Time: 7 PM IST

Venue: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

Where to watch India vs South Africa warm-up match?

Cricket fans in India can watch the India vs South Africa warm-up match on JioHotstar via OTTplay Premium.

Read also: The 10 future stars to watch: Top 'wonderkids' of the ICC U19 World Cup 2026

Pitch Report

The pitch at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai is typically a batter-friendly surface with good bounce and true pace, allowing stroke-makers to play their shots freely and post high scores in limited-overs cricket. Early on, fast bowlers might get some movement with the new ball, and spinners can come into play later, but the overall wicket tends to favour batting, often leading to high-scoring contests.

Head-to-head stats

India and South Africa have played 32 games so far in the T20Is. While India have an upper edge on the Proteas with 19 wins, the opponents have 13 victories to their name. They both last played in the T20 World Cup 2024 final where India emerged victorious. The Men in Blue won the title after 17 years.

Squads

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs

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