The Sportsgram India - Road to LA 2028: Cricket

Cricket will make its grand return to the Olympics after 128 years. Let us look at how teams can qualify for the LA Olympics in Cricket.

You can check LA 2028 programme here.

You can check the qualification process for other Sports here.

Cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics

Where will Cricket take place?

Cricket will be held at the Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium, a purpose-built venue located at the Fairplex in Pomona, California. The site is approximately 50 kilometres east of downtown Los Angeles.

Dates for Competition:

Cricket will run through the Olympics from 12th to 29th July.

Events in Cricket at the LA Olympics: 2 events are scheduled to take place – Men’s Tournament & Women’s Tournament.

Number of Quota Places:

6 Teams will qualify in each of the Men’s and Women’s tournaments. Each team will be represented by 15 athletes, and hence, a total of 180 athletes will be part of Cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics.

How to Qualify:

We will cover Men’s & Women’s qualifications separately.

Men’s Tournament Qualification:

Qualification is through the following 3 formats:

ICC Men’s T20 Ranking (4 Quotas): A total of four quota places will be allocated. These will be allocated to the highest -ranked eligible nation from each of the 4 continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania). The ranking cut-off will be on 31st December, 2026.

Host Country Quota: USA, as the host country, will be allocated a quota on the condition that its team is ranked in the top 15 ICC ranking as of the cut-off date. In case the USA does not qualify, the next best-ranked team, irrespective of continental allocation, will be reallocated the host nation quota.

Final Olympic Global Qualification Tournament: ICC will conduct an Olympic qualifier tournament. 8 highest-ranked teams that have yet to qualify will take part in this tournament. The winner of this tournament will qualify for the Olympics.

Women’s Tournament Qualification:

Qualification is through the following 3 formats:

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup (4 Quotas): A total of four quota places will be allocated to the highest -ranked eligible nation from each of the 4 continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania) at the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup. Given this competition is in progress, the following 4 nations have qualified – Australia, Great Britain, India & South Africa.

What happens to West Indies? – If the West Indies is ranked among the eight highest -ranked teams not yet qualified, the ICC shall organise a West Indies Nations Regional Tournament to determine which nation will represent the region at the Final Global Olympic
Qualification Tournament. The West Indies, as a composite ICC member representing multiple Caribbean nations and not recognised as an IOC nation, is ineligible to participate in the Olympic Games or to obtain a quota place. It comprises the
following nations: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands, which do not compete individually in ICC events.

India’s Chance of Qualification:

India has already qualified for the Women’s tournament. The Men’s team is ranked World No. 1 and should easily qualify as well.