Impressed by the sky-rocketing popularity of cricket, Olympic Games organisers are eager to include the sport in their upcoming summer season.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has invited a bid from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to properly incorporate cricket in the list of its Games.
In an interview the head of IOC, Jacques Rogge, said “The International Cricket Council will decide at the end of June whether they will make an application. The incoming president might be interested. We would welcome an application”.
Commenting on the worth of the game, he said, “It's an important, popular sport and very powerful on television”.
The format of the game is likely to be T20. The format, since its appearance at the international stage, has proved to be a mega success story.
Apart from ICC T20 World Cup, many domestic T20 leagues have also been founded in order to cash in on the fame of the format. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the biggest and most successful example in this regard.
The recently concluded World Cup and IPL formats in India have done much to raise the worth and repute of the game and IOC is desirous to add more thrill and interest in the Olympics Games by employing cricket.
Apart from the IOC, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is also working out a plan to bring cricket under its net.
The CGF Sports Review Committee Chairman, Tunku Imran, stated some days ago, “We need to engage the ICC to include cricket as we want to sustain the Games as one of the world’s leading multi-sports events”.
Analysts suggest that the inclusion of cricket in Commonwealth and Olympics games will be a drastic step that is expected to increase the viewership and worth of these two top associations of international sports.
The modern Olympics Games were founded by an English lawyer, Robert Dover, in 1612. The game of cricket has been played only once (1900 Paris Olympics) in the history of the Games.
Both the IOC and CGF are waiting for a green signal by the ICC that is still reluctant to take any step in this regard.
