ICC prefers THIS format for 2028 LA Olympics but open to suggestions

Paraag Marathe is part of the ICC Olympic Working Group, which is chaired by English board chief Ian Watmore and includes, among others, former PepsiCo Inc CEO Indra Nooyi.

Cricket’s T20 format is tailor-made for Olympics but the sport’s administrators will consider any format which would ensure the game’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, USA Cricket chief Paraag Marathe has said. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is preparing a bid for the game’s return to the Olympics having last featured in the 1900 Paris Games. Marathe is part of the ICC Olympic Working Group, which is chaired by English board chief Ian Watmore and includes, among others, former PepsiCo Inc CEO Indra Nooyi. “I am hopeful that it is very likely. For the first time ever 106 member nations of the ICC are supportive of getting cricket into the Olympics,” Marathe told the Sport Unlocked podcast. T20 cricket – which lasts about three hours as opposed to as long as five days for Tests – has proved immensely successful, illustrated best by the sustained popularity of the T20 league Indian Premier League (IPL). The success of inaugural Hundred competition in England, which used a 100-ball format, has provided another alternative to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).