India vs Pakistan showdown unlikely in cricket’s return to Olympic fold in LA 2028: Report

The India vs Pakistan cricket match, one of the most watched events in all of sports, might not take place at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as details for the qualification scenarios have started to emerge.

According to a report in The Times of India, it is now confirmed that only six teams will be participating in the men’s and women’s cricket events at the next Olympics where the sport will be making its comeback after 128 years.

The report also mentions that these six teams will not be the top six in the ICC T20 rankings as previously thought. Instead, a different method has been devised to give each region representation since it will be the Olympics.

LA28 cricket qualification scenario explained

According to the report, one team from each continent will get a direct berth for the cricket event at the Olympics. Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania and Americas (North and South combined) will each have one spot with the top-ranked nation from these continents making way to the Olympics. The sixth team will be decided through a global qualifier tournament.

“There have been discussions around the participation of teams," a source told the newspaper. “And it has been decided that the six teams will come through the top-ranked team from each region/continent, while the sixth comes from the global qualifier. The details will be shared by the ICC in due course, but the roadmap has more or less been frozen.”

India are the top-ranked side in Asia while England, Australia, South Africa are likely to qualify from Europe, Oceania and Africa respectively.

USA are the frontrunner to get the spot from Americas as it is unlikely that West Indies would qualify with the Caribbean nations participating separately in other Olympic events.

The sixth spot could well go to Pakistan, but they will have to face challenge from New Zealand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka among other teams.