Pakistan out of Olympic cricket tournament? Sword hanging over New Zealand too

Can the Pakistan cricket team qualify for the Olympics ?

According to The Guardian report, ICC has finalised the qualification for men's cricket in the meeting. ICC has decided that the qualification of teams will be on a regional basis. The top teams of Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa will directly qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. This means that India, Australia, Great Britain and South Africa will take four out of six places. USA is the host, so due to this they will also qualify directly.

However, this can change now. Recently, the ICC had asked the USA Cricket Board to resign as part of the roadmap for Olympic certification. If this resignation is not accepted, then America's place will be given to a Caribbean country. If this happens, then only one place will be left.

Pakistan Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket Board are not at all happy with the decision of ICC. This is because New Zealand's ranking is better than South Africa but despite this they cannot qualify. In Men's T20, South Africa is at fifth position while New Zealand is at fourth position. On the other hand, if we talk about Pakistan, then their ranking is eighth. Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have better rankings than them. But despite this, these teams will also not be able to qualify.

Cricket is making a comeback in the Olympics after 128 years

The British are considered to be the originators of cricket. After this, the British colonized the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent. Because of this, cricket became famous here too. Today cricket is considered a religion in India, where fans are eager to get a glimpse of cricketers and also the India has been qualified for Olympics 2028. 

It was already announced that cricket will also be included in the Olympics 2028. This created a wave in the minds of every cricket fan around the world. Now a new update has come out that 6-6 teams will participate in both men's and women's categories in the Olympics 2028, in which there will be a competition to win the gold medal.

The Olympics 2028 is to be held in Los Angeles, USA. 6-6 men's and 6 women's teams will participate in this Olympics. Each team can select a 15-member squad as a quota of 90-90 players has been allotted to both men and women. The International Cricket Council includes 12 full members including Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Apart from this, 94 countries are associate members. The method of qualifying in cricket for the Olympics 2028 has not been confirmed yet.

On the other hand, if the US gets direct entry due to being the host country, then the remaining five teams in each category will make their place through qualification. There is also a question of who will represent the West Indies, as the islands of the Caribbean participate in the Olympic Games as separate countries, as they do in the Commonwealth Games.

Cricket is making a comeback in the Olympics after 128 years. Earlier, cricket was included in the Olympic Games held in Paris in 1900. At that time, only France and Great Britain participated in cricket. A two-day match was played between these two teams, which has the status of an unofficial test match. But this time cricket will be played in the T20 format in the Olympics.

Cricket will be played in the T20 format in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. ICC confirmed earlier this month that T20 matches for men's and women's category in this event will run from July 12 to July 29, 2028.