Los Angeles Olympics 2028: Six teams to take part in cricket

Cricket will be back to the Olympic Games in 2028 after a gap of 128 years. As confirmed by the International Olympic Committee six teams in both the men’s and women’s event will participate in Los Angeles Olympics.

Six teams to participate

Cricket will be one of five new sports to be included in the Los Angeles Olympics along with squash, flag football, baseball/softball, and lacrosse. Six teams in men’s and women’s event will play T20 cricket at the world’s biggest multi-sports platform after 128 years. A total of 90 players will participate in each event in the grand spectacle.

The qualification criteria for cricket at the Olympics are yet to be decided. Since close to 100 nations play T20 cricket, the process will not be easy. However, as the host nation, the USA may be eligible for a direct entry.

The event programme for the Los Angeles Olympics was approved by the IOC Executive Board on Wednesday, 9 April. A total of 351 medal events-22 more than the Paris Olympics will be featured in the 2028 Olympics. As per IOC, the core athlete quota remains at 10,500, while an additional 698 athletes have been allocated across the five new sports.

Cricket becoming global

In recent years, cricket has started to boom globally and as a result has begun to be part of multi-sports event more often than before. In the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, women’s cricket was featured for the first time. In the 2023 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, 14 men’s teams and nine women’s teams participated.

No wonder, it was just a matter of time for cricket to feature at the Olympics. The process started back in August 2021. The International Cricket Council formally announced its intent for the same and then the ICC and LA28 committee came together to make it happen. In October 2023 cricket was officially proposed as one of five new sports at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

This also saw India’s former captain and head coach, Rahul Dravid taking part in interactive talk shows during Paris Olympics. ICC Chairman Jay Shah, former BCCI chief played a key role to bring cricket to the biggest global multi-sports event.

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