Former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan has expressed optimism about cricket's inclusion in the T20 format at the upcoming 2028 Olympics.
He believes that this format presents an excellent opportunity for teams to compete against established cricketing nations on the Olympic stage. Wassan also mentioned that star players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would aspire to add an Olympic medal to their impressive list of achievements.
In the recently concluded 19th Asian Games, India sent a relatively inexperienced cricket team, which managed to secure the gold medal. Wassan sees this as a positive sign for India's prospects in the T20 format at the Olympics.
"There are five years for the 2028 Olympics. I feel that teams will develop and they will give good competition and if India wants the medal, they will need to send their main team. Big cricketers can win the World Cup but if a big player gets an opportunity to claim an Olympic medal they will definitely work towards it like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will want to have an Olympic medal," Wassan said.
"The format of T20 has become so popular and because of that, you can organize a tournament quickly with more teams. If you look at T20 there are teams like Afghanistan, Netherlands... they can compete with top teams in the T20 format," Wassan added.
The 2028 Olympics will feature not only cricket but also other sports such as baseball/softball, lacrosse, squash, and flag football. This proposal to include these sports in the program was accepted during the 141st IOC session in Mumbai.
Cricket made its sole appearance in the Olympics in 1900, where Great Britain emerged as the victor. It has since become a part of events like the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
"The proposal from the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (@LA28) to include five new sports in the programme has been accepted by the IOC Session. Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash will be in the programme at LA28. #IOCMumbai2023," IOC Media posted on 'X'.
The IOC session in Mumbai, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a crucial meeting for the International Olympic Committee, where significant decisions regarding the future of the Olympic Games are made. This session marks India's second time hosting the IOC session, with the previous instance occurring approximately 40 years ago in New Delhi in 1983.
