India in line to face South Africa in sole warm-up clash before T20 World Cup defence

The Indian team will wind up the current white-ball bilateral series against New Zealand with the fifth and final T20 on January 31 in Thiruvananthapuram and reassemble in Mumbai a few days later for the defence of their T20 World Cup crown. The hosts are scheduled to open their campaign at the Wankhede Stadium on February 7, but before that they will play a warm-up match against South Africa.

After the New Zealand series, the Indian team will disperse from Thiruvananthapuram on February 1 and will report in Mumbai on February 3. The practice game against South Africa will be played at the DY Patil Stadium on February 4. That is expected to be the only warm-up fixture ahead of the tournament starting on February 7.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has not released the schedule for the warm-up games, a pre-tournament ritual ahead of any global event, and Cricbuzz understands that Suryakumar Yadav's men are in line to face Aiden Markram's side. As of Sunday, that is the plan and it should remain so, barring a last-minute alteration caused by the disruption of the schedule following Bangladesh's exit from the 20-team tournament.

Sources within the BCCI and Cricket South Africa (CSA) acknowledged the match-up but refused to confirm it, as the ICC has not made it official as yet. The delay in the announcement of the warm-up fixtures is in view of confusion and controversy over the Bangladesh team's participation in the World Cup. With Scotland confirmed as the replacement for Bangladesh, the ICC is expected to announce the warm-up schedule on Monday and, barring a surprise twist, the India-South Africa fixture should remain unchanged.

India are in Group A alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, the Netherlands, the United States and Namibia. South Africa, runners-up last time, are in Group D with Canada, Afghanistan, New Zealand and UAE. They play their first game, against Canada, at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 9.