Advent of T20 Cricket in the new century has given a push towards globalisation and gave it an unprecedented commercial success. After the emergence and success of IPL, more and more investments are coming into Cricket giving it a bigger revenue pull and the ICC finally found the weapon to globalise the game. Involving the nations in the fan favourite game, which was only familiar in the football or field hockey circuit. With globalisation of cricket across genders, the potential of the game has taken a massive boost and it proved to be a crucial part for it to be included the Commonwealth games 2022 and in the upcoming Asian Games 2023. Although Commonwealth Games only hosted the Women's edition, Asian Games is going to be a bigger competition to showcase cricket with each game being given official International status. Now reports suggest that Cricket is all set to be involved in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Cricket At Asian Games 2023: All Matches to Have Official T20I Status, Harmanpreet Kaur Can Only Play if India Reach Final.

According to the sources of The Guardian, it is now “very likely” that men’s and women’s T20 competitions – with gold medals at stake – will finally make it to the Olympic stage almost 128 years after it's last inclusion. The major reason for that has been considered to be the incredibly lucrative commercial market of cricket in South Asia.

The current Olympic broadcast rights in India are sold for individual Games and reported to be worth just £15.6m ($20m) for Paris 2024. But industry experts have told the Guardian that, depending on the format and the number of guaranteed matches for India, this figure could be worth up to £150m if cricket is included in LA 2028 and then Brisbane in 2032. Cricket at Asian Games 2023: Check Format, Number of Participating Teams and Venue Details.

Currently the only obstacle that remains in front is the commercial arrangements. The next T20 World Cup in 2024 was initially set to be hosted jointly West Indies and USA, but infrastructural issues in USA have made ICC rethink the decision and proposals have raised over shifting it to England. Although the ongoing Major League Cricket has seen some success and the organizers will hope that the logistical challenge can be overcomed giving fans an opportunity to see Cricket in the Olympics.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 28, 2023 11:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).