Olympics 2028: Complete equation of cricket qualification revealed, know how India will enter

Delhi: On Monday, great news came for cricket fans. Actually, ICC and International Olympic Committee i.e. IOC los angeles olympics 2028 The entire path for qualification for cricket has been cleared. T20 matches will be played in both men’s and women’s categories and 6-6 teams will participate in it. The five teams will be decided on the basis of ICC T20 rankings and current tournaments, while the last team will be decided on the basis of the new ICC T20 ranking to be held in 2027. ICC Olympic Qualifier Will be selected from the tournament.

Indian women’s cricket team gets entry in Olympics 2028

After the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, four teams have already confirmed their places for the Olympics. Australia, Great Britain (via England), India and South Africa have qualified directly as the best teams from Oceania, Europe, Asia and Africa respectively. According to the rules, only one team from each continent could get direct entry.

Also read: 3 big reasons due to which Team India lost 2-0 in the T20 series against Ireland.

America will get the benefit of hosting

Los Angeles being the host of the Olympics, both the US men’s and women’s teams will get direct entry, but for this they will have to reach the top-15 in the ICC T20 rankings any time between June 30 and December 31, 2026.

If the US women’s team is not able to fulfill this condition, then its place will be taken by the top-ranked team till March 1, 2027, which has not yet qualified. In the case of men, this place will be given to the next best team based on the ranking as of December 31, 2026.

How will the qualification of men’s teams happen?

The remaining teams qualifying directly in the men’s category will be decided on the basis of the ICC T20 rankings of 31 December 2026. The highest ranking qualifying teams from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania will get Olympic tickets. If India remains the highest-ranked team in Asia, it will get a chance to play directly in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028.

ICC Olympic Qualifier will be held in 2027

The teams that will not be able to qualify directly will have their last chance through the ICC Olympic Qualifier to be held in 2027. In this tournament, 8 teams each will participate in both men’s and women’s categories. Of these, seven teams will be selected on the basis of ranking, while the winning team of this tournament will get the last ticket for the Olympics.

Also read: 4 star players including Shaheen Afridi will be removed from Pakistan’s Test team, PCB will announce soon

Different rules for West Indies

West Indies is a cricket team made up of many countries, whereas it does not have any National Olympic Association (NOC) in the Olympics. Therefore West Indies cannot participate directly in the Olympics.

If the West Indies men’s or women’s team remains among the top-8 non-qualified teams till December 31, 2026, then a separate qualifying tournament will be played between the Caribbean countries. The winning country of this tournament will represent that region in the ICC Olympic Qualifier.

How will the tournament be in the Olympics?

Each country will select a team of 15 players. A total of 6 teams will be divided into two groups of three each. After the group stage, matches will be held on the basis of points table. The top two teams will play the gold medal match, while the third and fourth placed teams will compete for the bronze medal.

A total of 28 matches will be played including both men’s and women’s competitions. These matches will be organized in the new cricket stadium being built in Pomona, Los Angeles. At the same time, ICC has said that the date and host country of the ICC Olympic Qualifier to be held in 2027 will be announced later.