The script that earned T20 cricket a place at Los Angeles Olympics 2028

David Warner pulling the ball away, Jasprit Bumrah leaping in celebration, an acrobatic catch at the boundary. These visuals were all part of a video presentation at the IOC Session in Mumbai made to introduce cricket as one of the five new proposed sports for the 2028 Olympics.

"Easy one to pitch," Niccolo Campriani, the three-time Olympic gold medallist Italian shooter who is now the sports director of the Los Angeles Games, said on stage.

On that stage stood a panel representing the LA Games — along with US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti — which spoke of the "fast and appealing" T20 format for the Olympics, catering to an "estimated 2.5 billion fans worldwide of the sport" and highlighted Virat Kohli as the "third most followed athlete in the world" on Instagram.

And with those dynamics in play, cricket will officially be part of the Olympics after a century. T20 cricket, along with squash, baseball/softball, flag football and lacrosse passed the vote and the final step to make it to the Los Angeles Games in five years' time. Going under voting at the IOC Session in Mumbai as a package, the five sports received a big majority with just two members against its inclusion in the 2028 Olympics. There were questions — like the one on cricket not having enough global representation in terms of national federations — but no roadblocks.

Cricket's Olympic writing was on the wall when the LA organising committee conveyed its proposal, which was backed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board last week. That cricket would return to the Olympic fold at an IOC session in India, felt LA Games chairperson Casey Wasserman, could be straight out of a script of Hollywood (also in LA).

The script that worked in cricket's favour for the LA Games was multifold: its unmatched popularity in Asia, growing market in the US — co-hosts of the 2024 T20 World Cup, its Major League Cricket kicked off this year — and the greater financial pot it presents to the IOC.

"It's a game-changer for the Olympic movement. It's a win-win-win scenario not only for the IOC and the cricket community but also for LA 28," Campriani said. "The idea was to create a perfect combination of American sport to be showcased to the world, but also introducing global sports that are not as developed in the US market."

International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Greg Barclay said dialogue with the LA organisers began a few years ago, with "100 per cent support from all of our members" in blending cricket and the Olympics. That includes the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"The inclusion of cricket in the Olympics is set to open new frontiers for the sport, providing unparalleled exposure in untapped global markets," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.

Among those global markets is the US. Wasserman said the LA committee had been looking at cricket from the "very beginning of getting the Olympics". Having shortlisted the new sports list from 14 to 9, it began engaging more deeply with cricket's stakeholders, which included the ICC and leagues like MLC and the Indian Premier League to understand the sport's market and scope. The 2022 Commonwealth Games, where women's T20 cricket made its debut, turned into an observation project that returned "amazing" feedback.

"As we went through the processes, it became quite obvious that we'd be making a mistake if we didn't include it," said the LA Games chairperson.

LA has proposed six-team men and women events in cricket, which is likely to remain. With regards to cricket and baseball/softball, it has come with an "understanding that the ICC and WBSC provides the best players for the competition", said Karl Stoss, chair of Olympic Programme Commission. "This will be monitored closely," he added. It could potentially mean the ICC having to clear up its Future Tours Programme for the LA Games scheduled in July 2028.

The addition of four new team sports will also have an impact on the volume of athletes and quotas. Stoss said the quota count for LA Olympics would stand at 11,092, above the IOC's usual cap of 10,500 athletes at a particular Games. Finding a solution to limit the overshoot will be important, he added.

"We will have to start to talk with international federations on which way we could reduce (quotas) in different disciplines, and find a good balance between the five new ones and traditional ones," Stoss said.

Campriani, the former Italian rifle shooter, said things like the exact number of quotas per sport and its various disciplines, number of teams and the qualification process will be finalised after the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Those technicalities are for the future. For now, cricket is back at the Olympics. And hoping to be here to stay.

"We do not want to see this as a one-off," Barkley said. "We are looking to be a permanent member of the Olympic movement."