For lengthy, cricket remained a statistical world sport sans a real world footing. A strong fan base of two.5 billion and an ever-swelling TV income fashioned its axis to be labelled as a sport with a worldwide attraction, second solely to soccer. However, in actuality, all of it’s parked within the Commonwealth international locations and even amongst them India alone helm round 70 %, if no more, of these numbers. But now, all this might change as cricket, in its T20 avatar, has made its re-entry into the Olympic fold by means of the 2028 version at Los Angeles, and it’s a mutually useful affiliation from sporting and business angles. From a sporting perspective, the Olympics offers an unmatchable platform for cricket, maybe even greater than a World Cup.

Standing on the rostrum sporting an Olympic medal across the neck is an unmatched feeling for any sportsperson, as it’s a reverentially heat handshake with historical past that dates again to 1896.

“It is an excellent piece of news for cricket to be part of the Olympics. It will certainly add to the global image of cricket,” says Keith Joseph, president of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC), who gave a robust backing to ICC’s efforts to get cricket included within the LA Olympics.

“T20 provides an excellent platform too in terms of duration and connection with younger audiences. That USA will be co-hosting the T20 World Cup in 2024 will also work as a very good precursor to cricket ahead of the Olympics,” he factors out.

However, anticipating cricket to match the common attraction of soccer, one thing the game at all times cherished, simply due to an Olympic look is kind of naïve.

Sample this: The ICC males’s T20 rating record options 87 nations within the males’s part and 66 within the ladies’s section. But the FIFA rating record touches 207 males’s groups and 186 ladies’s outfits, the numbers reveal the huge gulf between the 2 sports activities.

Of course, this isn’t to disclaim that the T20 format has helped cricket to achieve some hitherto unexplored corners of Africa, Europe and Latin America.

“Yes, it is a good first step to take cricket to a global audience. As the USA is a big market and there is a strong presence of sub-continent crowd. But as of now, it has been included only in Los Angeles, and hopefully it will figure in Brisbane as well (in 2032).

“It is necessary as a result of Australia is a standard cricketing nation, and having the ability to play there might be a giant increase to the game. It could even open doorways to cricket being a everlasting Olympic sport,” opines a veteran BCCI administrator.

However, cricket had to leap over several self-imposed hurdles to make its return to the Olympics.

Both the officials and players did not want to follow several clauses, especially the one pertaining to their whereabouts that is mandatory for random dope testing, laid out by the IOC, IOA, WADA etc.

England, the champion side when cricket was last staged in the Olympics in 1900, was another country which was initially reluctant to take this plunge.

“Yes, there have been some difficulties in reaching an understanding for a while over sure points such because the whereabouts clause.

“However, most importantly, the BCCI and ICC and few other boards have found a common ground to take cricket to a global stage,” mentioned the administrator.

Beyond the sporting discipline, the IOA additionally might need thought in regards to the crowd-pulling energy of cricket, particularly within the USA, a rustic with a big Asian diaspora.

An business insider, whom PTI contacted, mentioned the million eyeballs that cricket ensures can have a large affect on the acquisition of broadcasting rights of the LA Olympics.

“It is great news (cricket in Olympics) if you are a business-person. America has a large section of Asian expats, who are crazy about cricket and they will fill the stadium and of course will follow the game on TV or streaming apps.

“Since cricket is in LA, our estimate is that the promoting value of broadcasting rights may see a minimum of a 20-30 % leap from the present one, which is large for a single version,” the expert said.