Olympic cricket 2028 : T20 cricket’s rise to global stage mirrors India’s ascent

2028 Olympics: T20 cricket’s rise to global stage mirrors India’s ascent

Olympic Cricket Match

In August 1900, a cycling venue in Paris, saw two teams play the first and so far, only Olympic cricket match. The two teams, Great Britain and France, were not even true national sides; the English being represented by the Devon and Somerset Wanderers club, then touring France, while the French were mostly English expats who played for the All Paris Club.

In the two-day encounter, the English team routed the French, who managed just 104 runs in their two innings. It tells you something about how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarded the sport that the winners, Great Britain, were presented not gold but silver medals while the French won bronze.

A hundred and twenty three years on, when 90-odd members in the IOC session in Mumbai almost unanimously voted for the five new games proposed, including men’s and women’s cricket for the 2028 LA Olympics, it was a totally different proposition. Nearly two billion people, between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will regard this as an opportunity for not one, but a possible two Olympic medals. And the added interest will translate into not just increased viewership, but far more lucrative media deals for the IOC.

Some top teams will necessarily miss out on the Olympics. And a single venue and the limited pitches might make the first-ever Olympic cricket tournament a bit of a hit and miss affair. But, all in all, T20 cricket’s rise as a global sport closely mirrors India’s rise in global significance. The signs look auspicious.

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The truth is that this is a marriage made in heaven.

The IOC is constantly looking to increase their core viewership. ‘Good looking’ sports like rhythmic gymnastics, and trendy new events like ‘Breaking’ have been added to appeal to a larger audience sitting on the cusp of sports and entertainment. And in 1992, the IOC campaigned to bring professional basketball players from the NBA to the Barcelona Olympics with the fabled US ‘Dream Team,’ which broke all viewership records.

Even football, which was first an amateur sport, was later converted into a U-23 event. And in 1996, by allowing three senior footballers to join the U-23 teams, the likes of Messi and Neymar made football one of the most rated Olympic sports. Cricket just adds another huge market for the quadrennial event.

As for the ICC, being in the Olympics just adds to the tremendous increase in interest in the game that really started in 2005. In February that year, the first ever men’s T20 international between Australia and New Zealand was held in Eden Park, Auckland.

The match was regarded less than seriously by the players, with many sporting retro moustaches and beards and the umpire actually pulling out a red card reminiscent of a football match when Glen McGrath pretended to bowl an underarm delivery.

The Australian captain for that match, Ricky Ponting, famously said it was a format that was difficult to take seriously. But T20s, which cut the playing time to less than four hours, suddenly gave cricket a more compact product which the rest of the world could actually watch.

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The glamour and success of the IPL which started in 2008 took it to a totally different level. And Ricky Ponting now makes a very comfortable living as the head coach of an IPL franchise!

And importantly, T20 cricket, unlike the cosy and exclusive club of Test and One-Day International playing countries, was open for all. Instead of the dozen-odd countries into the sport, interest sprouted in countries as diverse as Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Brazil.

The Olympic Charter specifies that in order to be in the Olympics, the sport must be widely practised by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in no fewer than 40 countries and on three continents. ODI and Test cricket would never have had a chance.

In 2018, the Sony Picture Network paid a modest $12 million for the rights to broadcast the Tokyo Olympics in India. By 2028, that number is expected to rise a staggering tenfold. And increased access to a country that is expected to be the third largest economy in the next few years is something that would have been on the IOC’s wishlist for a long time.

IOC president Thomas Bach’s batting efforts in an event in Mumbai on October 9, four days before the voting signalled that the inclusion of cricket in LA 2028 was nothing more than a formality, the decision had already been made.

In the general jubilation, there are a couple of discordant notes. Just six teams in both the men’s and women’s events mean that Olympic cricket will be even more of an exclusive club than World Cup cricket, currently facing a lot of flak because of the lack of representation.

Some top teams will necessarily miss out on the Olympics. And a single venue and the limited pitches might make the first-ever Olympic cricket tournament a bit of a hit and miss affair. But, all in all, T20 cricket’s rise as a global sport closely mirrors India’s rise in global significance. The signs look auspicious.