The sport of cricket is set to make its eagerly awaited return to the Olympics after a hiatus of 128 years and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games are likely to witness the grand return of arguably the world's second-most-followed sport.
While the International Olympics Committee (IOC) or the International Cricket Council haven't made the official announcement confirming the inclusion of the sport into the Summer Olympics, it is likely that the declaration will be made at an IOC session in Mumbai on October 15 and 16.
If cricket does get included at the Los Angeles Olympics then it will be nothing short of a miracle as the sport was not even one of the 28 sports that were finalised by the IOC in February 2022 but a persistent push from the ICC and the growing popularity of cricket saw it getting added to a shortlist of nine other games and was placed under review by the IOC.
As per reports, cricket was competing alongside motorsport, squash, lacrosse, break dancing, kickboxing, karate, flag football, and baseball/softball.
ICC's presentation that made a case for the inclusion of the sport saw the international cricketing governing body recommend a T20 event comprising six teams for both men and women.
The participants would be the top-six ranked sides across the ICC's women's and men's T20 rankings based on a certain cut-off date. The primary reasons that led to the ICC recommending the T20 format were the fact that the format has immense popularity among the fans and also witnesses a world championship (T20 World Cup) at certain time intervals.
The T20 format has witnessed a total of eight World Cups thus far. The first edition was organised in 2007 in South Africa and was won by the MS Dhoni-led Indian team. The latest edition was hosted by Australia in 2022 and saw England pip Pakistan to claim the silverware.
