Opinion For cricket in Olympics, a lot needs to fall in place
Express View: It's all very fine to want a share of the cricket money pie via the Olympics and make India-Pakistan play-act war-war for TV's sake. But it will take immense effort before cricket can be airdropped into the Olympics
Not everyone in the IOC is tuned into the quaint bat and ball and field game, and a large part of the world will need to be taught how it's played or watched even. 
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) could not stay immune to the undying passion for T20 cricket in the subcontinent, and the Los Angeles Games 2028 organisers have swooped in to peck at the financial pie. At the IOC Congress Executive Board meet in Mumbai a day after India and Pakistan play their 50-over league spectacle in the ongoing World Cup, cricket will be put to vote to be included in the Olympic programme. Early indications point to T20 cricket joining the LA Games — fancy stadiums have come up on the LA horizon where Major League Cricket matches took place over the summer. The T20 format can fit into the Olympics’ time-brackets, even as the long-winded five-day Tests and day-long 50-over formats stood no chance in the 16-day Olympic programme.
Challenges remain. Not everyone in the IOC is tuned into the quaint bat and ball and field game, and a large part of the world will need to be taught how it’s played or watched even. The onus will be on the ICC, subservient to the Indian board, to do the heavy lifting of spreading the sport. The football experiment at the Olympics didn’t quite take off in its U23 avatar or ring cash registers for the IOC, despite being the world’s most watched sport. Co-opting tennis and golf too didn’t attract the best names. India might throw its weight behind the Olympics but the ICC will need to cede ground in the Olympic years.
Perhaps the biggest headache for cricket in the Olympics is how it tends to rush back to the dressing room at the first drop of rain. A farce played out at the Asian Games recently, when higher ranking decided the gold medal on a rain-marred Finals day. Climate change and unseasonal rain mean reserve days will need to be marked out throughout the Olympics. It’s all very fine to want a share of the cricket money pie via the Olympics and make India-Pakistan play-act war-war for TV’s sake. But it will take immense effort before cricket can be airdropped into the Olympics.
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