India will prepare the T20 World Cup 2026 at home with a five -match T20I series against New Zealand in January 2026.
India Cricket Team will take on New Zealand in a white-ball series in January 2026 ahead of the T20 World Cup. As many as eight venues will host matches with the T20 WC also in India. The three-match ODI series will begin on January 11 in Baroda, while the five-match T20I series will begin on January 21 in Nagpur and will end on January 31 in Trivandrum.
It will be a packed end of the year for Team India. After a two-match Test series at home, the white-ball team will travel to Australia for a three-match ODI and five-match T20I series. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from Test and T20I cricket, it will be a delight for fans in Australia to welcome them.
Following the series, India will take on World Test champions South Africa at home in a two-match Test, three-match ODI and five-match T20I series. Before the T20 World Cup, India’s preparations will conclude with the New Zealand series at home.
IND vs NZ 2026 schedule
| Match | Day | Date | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ODI | Sun | 11-Jan-26 | Baroda | 13:30 |
| 2nd ODI | Wed | 14-Jan-26 | Rajkot | 13:30 |
| 3rd ODI | Sun | 18-Jan-26 | Indore | 13:30 |
| 1st T201 | Wed | 21-Jan-26 | Nagpur | 19:00 |
| 2nd T201 | Fri | 23-Jan-26 | Raipur | 19:00 |
| 3rd T201 | Sun | 25-Jan-26 | Guwahati | 19:00 |
| 4th T201 | Wed | 28-Jan-26 | Vizag | 19:00 |
| 5th T201 | Sat | 31-Jan-26 | Trivandrum | 19:00 |
Final series before T20 World Cup
While the dates are not yet finalised for the T20 World Cup 2026, ICC has set a February-March window. However, with SA20 2026 (Dec 26-Jan 26) and ILT20 2026 (Dec 2-Jan 4), some of the Kiwi players might miss the series. New Zealand will also play a full series against West Indies at home in November-December.
But for India, it will be an opportunity to finalise combinations as the squad submission deadline for the T20 WC will likely be in mid-January. Those five T20Is will help Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir to finalise the XI and few gaps.
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