Cricket’s long-awaited return to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will not guarantee a major Pakistan-India clash, with the International Cricket Council (ICC) close to finalizing a regional qualifying system to determine six participating teams, international media reported on Saturday.
The proposed route, discussed at the ICC board meeting in Dubai on Friday, would send the top-ranked team from each continent directly to the Games.
Under this formula, India is expected to secure its place in Asia, while Australia (Oceania), South Africa (Africa) and Great Britain (Europe) will automatically qualify.
However, it remained unclear whether the USA would finish fifth by virtue of being the host nation, as the West Indies are also competing for the Americas.
Since the format would deny the major cricketing nations – Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – direct qualification, it has been suggested that the sixth team will be decided through a global qualifier, details of which are expected to be announced soon.
“There were discussions about the participation of teams, and it was decided that the six teams would come through with the top-ranked team from each region/continent, while the sixth would come from the global qualifiers. Details will be shared by the ICC in due course, but the roadmap has been more or less frozen,” said a veteran official who was part of the meeting in Dubai.
For the general public, the men’s and women’s cricket tournaments in Los Angeles 2028 will be played in a T20 format.
The ICC has already confirmed that both competitions will be held from 12 to 29 July 2028, with the women’s medal match scheduled for July 20 and the men’s final on July 29.
Cricket will return to the Olympic stage after 128 years. The sport’s only previous appearance was at the 1900 Paris Games, where Great Britain defeated France in one match to take the gold medal.
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