BCCI ‘keen’ for cricket’s inclusion in Olympics

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has shown interest to help the game become an Olympic sport.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been pushing for the game’s Twenty20 format’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angles since cricket last featured in the 1900 Olympics in Paris.

The BCCI, world's richest cricket board, had previously had concerns about the idea, fearing it might lose its autonomy and become answerable to the country's Olympic committee.

The Indian board, however, appears to have changed its stance following a virtual Apex Committee meeting on Friday.

"We are exploring that opportunity," BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters by telephone.

"We're keen but how the modalities would be worked out, we're working on that aspect."

The BCCI also agreed to send its women's team to next year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Cricket made its first Commonwealth Games appearance in 1998 when the South African men's team won the gold medal in Kuala Lumpur.

Dhumal said the council had short-listed venues for this year's Twenty20 World Cup to be played in India in October-November.

"We're discussing it with the ICC, it's a work in progress," he said.

Local media reported Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, the world's largest cricket stadium with a capacity of 132,000, will host the final.

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