Cricket is finally going to be part of the Olympics again, after more than 100 years. The sport will be played at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, which is a big deal. But the twist is, only six teams will be allowed to play for the gold medal in T20s.
Cricket Format Might Keep India or Pakistan Out
As per a Forbes report, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is planning to pick teams based on regional rankings. The host country, USA, gets a direct entry. Then, the top team from Asia, Europe, Oceania, and Africa will qualify straight away.
This makes it very tricky. Big cricket teams like India or Pakistan could miss out if they aren’t the number one in Asia at that time. The sixth and last spot will be given to one team from a separate qualifier tournament.
Before this, people had doubts whether cricket could even fit into the busy international schedule. But now, ICC seems okay with doing just one qualifying event and not more than that.
Cricket Olympic Hopes Unclear for West Indies
There’s another issue when it comes to the West Indies. Since they’re not one country but a group of nations, they can’t play together as one team in the Olympics. So now each island country may have to compete on their own in a separate tournament to earn a spot.
For the women’s teams, the T20 World Cup will decide who qualifies for the Olympics. However, things are still unclear when it comes to the USA women’s team and how they’ll be included.
All matches will happen at the Fairgrounds Stadium in Pomona, which is about 50 km from LA. The games will start from July 12, 2028, and the medals will be given on July 20 and 29.
LA Mayor Welcomes Cricket and Olympic Spirit
“When the world comes here for these Games, we will highlight every neighbourhood as we host a Games for all and work to ensure it leaves a monumental legacy. We are already delivering that legacy as we announce there have been more than one million enrollments in PlayLA. I want to thank LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for making these programs possible and for their continued work to host the greatest Games yet,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
USA Cricket Still Under Pressure From ICC
The same report also mentioned that USA Cricket was almost suspended by the ICC due to board troubles. But now they’ve got three months to fix things and avoid any action. The ICC had earlier asked all board members to resign, but they didn’t agree.
Now with cricket getting this global spotlight through the Olympics, the ICC is watching closely. USA Cricket is under pressure to sort itself out before the world comes watching in 2028.
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