The hours of waiting are about to end and the real test is about to begin. T20 World Cup 2026 will start from Saturday 7th February, in which the Indian team will defend its title. Team India, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, is a contender to win this trophy for the second consecutive time. Just before the tournament, the team has also made this announcement with its strong performance. But before Team India takes the field to defend its title, the players and coaching staff have been given a break of one or two days. Coach Gautam Gambhir himself reached his home on break as soon as the series ended.

Just before the T20 World Cup Team India and New Zealand A 5-match T20 series was played between, which ended with the last match on Saturday, 31 January. Team India's dominance was also seen in the last match of the series played in Thiruvananthapuram and it defeated New Zealand by 46 runs and won the series 4-1. With the end of this series, now Team India will return directly with the warm-up match of the T20 World Cup.

Where did coach Gambhir reach on break?

But before the warm-up match, all the members of Team India have been given a break of one or two days. Taking advantage of this break, coach Gautam Gambhir reached the capital New Delhi the very next day after the end of the match, where he will spend this time with his family. Gambhir was seen coming out of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on the morning of Sunday, February 1, where a car was already present to pick him up. Considering the extremely challenging schedule of the next one month, Team India including Gambhir has been given this break.

VIDEO | Delhi: Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir arrives at Delhi airport.

(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/GJGIRJTuW9

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 1, 2026

When and against whom is Team India's practice match?

As far as the World Cup is concerned, Team India will face America in its first match on 7th February. But before that the Indian team will also play a practice match. Team India will play this practice match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on 4th February. The India A squad will play in the warm-up match against two smaller teams of the tournament. First on 2nd February, India A will play against USA and then on 6th February against Namibia.