Cricket as an Olympic sport has been discussed in the news off and on for many years. Logistics for organizing a sport like cricket were complicated, the number of teams requiring the number of grounds and the time taken for a cricket match in the traditional format was overwhelming. With the introduction of Twenty20 format, things look a little different and time constraints seem to have been overcome for cricket to make a comeback as an Olympic sport, after 120 years when ignorant players, not knowing they were Olympians, played a cricket match in 1900. (cricinfo)

The world’s first (and till date only) Olympic cricket match poster
Source: Cricinfo

And so ended the competition. Neither side seemed aware that they had taken part in the Olympics, and the match was only retrospectively formally recognised as being an Olympic contest in 1912, when the International Olympic Committee met to compile the definitive list of all events in the five modern Olympiads up to that point. By the time of the St Louis Games in 1904 cricket had been forgotten.

And in a recent ICC directive to BCCI, among other points mentioned are that BCCI should meet with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) (the actual T20 format organizers, who had hoped to redefine Indian cricket and are now in trouble for daring to end BCCI’s monopoly). ICL has requested a recognition approval from ICC, who in turn have directed them to meet BCCI. Yes, the same BCCI who have been continuously victimizing ICL players (link), anyway thats a whole different post.

Rediff reports that, apart from these directives,

The ICC also discussed the possibility of cricket being part of a future Olympic Games.

“It was agreed that ICC management continue research on the matter and present to the Board at a later date.

“If cricket wished to be part of the 2020 Olympic Games then it would have to make an application to the International Olympic Committee before 2013.”

So after India’s best ever run in Olympics this year, when sports other than cricket have been getting a long overdue recognition, what do you think is in store for cricket as an Olympic sport?

Pros – Cricket is a sport, like soccer, volleyball, field hockey and so many others. And the ultimate joy of standing on an Olympic podium for a gold medal is exhilarating. Just imagine a Indo-Pak/Indo-Aus final T20 match for an Olympic gold medal.

Cons – With the amount of politics we have in zone based selections, the underlying illegal betting, and our never ending madness in the sport that tends to overshadow other important sports in our country, is it good for cricket to be in Olympics or not?

What say you?

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