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ICC T20 World Cup 2026, Warm-Up Matches Guide: Understand How Teams Prepare Before The Main Event

T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up matches run from February 2-6, offering teams like India and others practice games before the main tournament starts on February 7

India's Arshdeep Singh, centre, celebrates with Hardik Pandya, right, and Ishan Kishan after taking the wicket of New Zealand's captain Mitchell Santner during the fifth and final T201 cricket match between India and New Zealand, at the Greenfield International Stadium, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. | Photo: PTI/R SenthilKumar
Outlook Sports Desk

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Summary

  • Warm-up matches take place before the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 main tournament

  • Teams use these games to test combinations and adapt to local conditions

  • Results don’t affect standings but help finalize strategies and playing XIs

The 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is nearly upon us, with the main event set to run from 7 February to 8 March 2026 across India and Sri Lanka as 20 teams vie for global T20 supremacy. Before the tournament proper kicks off, teams will use the warm-up matches from 2 February to 6 February to fine-tune combinations, test strategies, and acclimatise to local conditions ahead of the high-pressure group stages.

This year’s warm-up programme consists of 16 fixtures spread over four venues in India (Bengaluru, Navi Mumbai and Chennai) and Sri Lanka (Colombo), giving sides a final competitive stretch before the tournament opener between Pakistan and Netherlands on 7 February.

Warm-up games differ from official T20I fixtures, results don’t count toward tournament standings, and teams can rotate through their full 15-man squads in any order without a formal playing XI announcement after the toss.

Notable fixtures include India vs South Africa on 4 February at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai, where defending champions India will look to sharpen batting and bowling plans against strong opposition.

Other matches see sides like Afghanistan, Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia and associate nations such as USA, Nepal and Italy getting valuable game time ahead of their campaign starts. Teams such as England and Australia have chosen limited warm-up participation, with workload management and concurrent series influencing schedules

ICC T20 World Cup 2026, Warm-Up Matches: Streaming Details

When and Where will the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Warm-Up Matches Be Played

The warm-up matches of the ICC T20 World Cup will be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 2 to February 6, 2026.

When And Where will the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Warm-Up matches Be Telecast

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Warm-Up matches will be telecast on Star Sports Network. It can also be streamed live on the Jio Hotstar app. However, only the selective matches will be live streamed. Fans can expect India matches to get live streamed.

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