Cricket will be a welcome return to the Olympic Games in 2028. However, the sport, though very popular, can be a bit of a mystery to the general public and is therefore less popular with the masses in comparison to the other sports. Both the men’s and women’s events will take place in the T20 format, which is compact and fast and provides both excitement and high viewership. Thus, it looks set to be a success worldwide.
Only Six Teams Will Compete
Made up of 6 teams per gender, the tournament has a pool of 90 athletes per gender, which means you can take out the players of even those not in the squad. Apart from the host nation, the USA, which has secured a unique position, a maximum of 5 spots per country per event will be contested through the qualifying process. Small and fixed as it is, the quota has become an issue of great concern to the teams around the globe, particularly those not among the top ones.
India and Pakistan in the Spotlight
The men’s team of India, the present T20 World Cup titleholders, has been enjoying the top rank of ICC Men’s T20I rankings mostly due to the efforts of Suryakumar Yadav. Their women’s team recently played the ODI series with Australia, beating them in the first game but losing in the second. They are now placed at number three as per the rankings. With their impressive performance, India is almost assured of a place in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Conversely, Pakistan’s qualifying has become very uncertain. To be precise, the men’s side is ranked 7th in the world, whereas the women’s team consists of players who are ranked 8th and have not shown much improvement to qualify unless they do so in the next tournaments.
Strategic Push for Global Viewership
Well, along with other new sports, cricket’s addition is part of a global campaign by the IOC to reach more people all over the world, specifically from cricket-loving countries like India. Cricket will debut at LA 2028 alongside baseball/softball, squash, flag football, and lacrosse (sixes).
To meet the demand in India, the hosts are also considering whether it would make sense to play the cricket matches in New York rather than Los Angeles. The Indian audience is in a more favorable time zone than New York in that 9.5 hours separate IST from there, while from LA, it is 12.5 hours.
A prospective location – New York
Although the final decision about the venues is still pending, Brooklyn’s Marine Park is being considered as MI New York’s base. There is also a possibility of building a 10,000-seat stadium; however, there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding its completion by the 2028 Games.
The Olympic Games are Getting More and More High-Stakes
Cricket’s return to the Olympics after 128 years is a time for celebration for sports. Nevertheless, only ten countries in the world have the chance to compete at the Olympic Games, so some might not have this chance now. The coming years will be very decisive, particularly for those teams at the cutoff line, and Pakistan is one of them.
So far, things seem to be getting interesting in the Cricket event that will be held in LA in 2028. Audiences around the world are keenly observing the fast-paced T20 action, the undetermined stakes, and the prestige of the Olympic gold.
