Cricket at the LA Olympics is a very likely possibility. We had done the story a month earlier saying it is looking increasingly likely and with every passing week things are looking better and better for cricket. With the ICC Chairman Greg Barclay now saying it is a win-win for cricket and LA in his piece for insidethegames, there is every indication that things are going well for the sport. “Yes it is looking very good”, said an ICC source when asked about this development. If this does happen and we will know more by June, it will be a major moment for the sport as well for the Olympic movement, which will have a footprint into the hugely expanding Indian market.
Just going by the numbers, cricket’s inclusion in the world’s greatest sporting spectacle is a no brainer. With billions consuming the sport, in South Asia and its ever growing diaspora, cricket is the perfect foil for the IOC to enter a market that has so far remained untapped. The Olympics, which claims to be a global movement, hasn’t yet set foot in South Asia. And that’s something it has to do sooner than later. Cricket, it may be said, opens up South Asia like nothing else can for the IOC.
People in the know who are handling cricket’s bid to make an Olympic entry are extremely hopeful. The sport is very much in the fray and if things go to plan it more than likely to be included is what they are saying while adding that cricket’s global reach and money power could give it an edge.
If it does happen, it will add a lot to the IOC session in India in October. The IOC session, many argue, isn’t being organised at a good time with the cricket world cup on in the country. Competing with the world cup for eyeballs won’t be easy and it would have been difficult for the session to capture media attention. However, things change dramatically if cricket is brought into the equation. Imagine Mrs. Ambani, India’s IOC member, making a formal announcement on cricket’s inclusion in LA in the middle of the world cup. With the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah tasked by the ICC to front this, it couldn’t be better timing if thought that way.
While it is still not a done deal yet, chances are it is more than likely. The growing importance of the Indian market for the IOC, India’s determination to mount a strong Olympic bid for 2036 and Brisbane, hosts for the 2032 Olympic Games, being a strong base for cricket all point to things going in favour of the sport.