After more than a century, Cricket has finally been confirmed as a new entrant in the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics 2028. Despite being the second most popular sport in the world, Cricket has not found itself regularly as part of marquee multi-sport events. But the commercial attachments related to cricket has long been hard to ignore for the Olympic organisers and with USA looking to make an entry in the world of cricket, Los Angeles found a place for it as well. Cricket has been part of the Asian Games before. 2010 has been the first time Cricket was included in the Asian Games but the most popular team of Asia, India didn't participate. In the third time Cricket was included at the Asian Games 2022 at Hangzhou, India won the gold medal. While it seemed like Cricket's future at multi-sport events is bright, there has been recent reports that cricket might be excluded from the Nagoya Asian Games in 2026. Will Cricket Replace Breaking at LA Olympics 2028? Here's A Look at Sports Included in Next Edition of Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Will Cricket be Part of Asian Games 2026?

According to a report from Forbes, cricket faces a major battle for inclusion with logistical challenges set to be difficult to overcome. A baseball stadium in Nagoya had been proposed to be repurposed, as per the Reuters report, but those close to the coalface are facing the resignation of cricket missing out. Earlier, hopes were high with Olympic Council of Asia and Japanese organizing committee publicly pushing for cricket's inclusion. "The organizing committee is very keen on including that (cricket) in the 2026 Asian Games," OCA deputy director general Vinod Kumar Tiwari told Reuters recently. But the situation has faced a new twist now with logistical challenges coming up in a Baseball-crazy nation like Japan. Los Angeles Olympics 2028 to Allow Only Six Teams in Cricket Per Gender, Qualification Criteria Yet to be Confirmed: Report.

By What Time Can Fans Expect A Confirmation About Cricket Being A Part of Asian Games 2026?

Cricket in Asian Games 2022 was deemed a success and major multi-sports events are deemed critical for smaller cricket countries. "It's very important to get cricket into the 2026 Asian Games and put the game in front of people," Japan Cricket Association head of operations Alan Curr told Forbes last year. "For non-playing countries, cricket is seen as a minor sport." India and fellow powers England had been reluctant about cricket's involvement in the Olympics - mostly due to financial reasons - before the shift in stance led by former BCCI secretary Jay Shah. Shah is recently elected at the new ICC president and conversations remain ongoing between the Asian Cricket Council and relevant authorities. A final decision is set to arrive by 2025.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 24, 2024 05:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).