Cricket’s long-awaited return to the Olympic stage at the Los Angeles 2028 Games may not feature the highly anticipated Pakistan–India encounter, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) moves closer to finalizing its regional qualification system for the event, according to international media reports on Saturday.
The qualification proposal, discussed during the ICC Board meeting in Dubai on Friday, would see the top-ranked team from each continent automatically qualify for the Games. Under this plan, India is expected to secure Asia’s spot, while Australia (Oceania), South Africa (Africa), and Great Britain (Europe) are likely to join the lineup.
It remains uncertain whether the United States will qualify automatically as the host nation, given that the West Indies also represent the Americas region and are strong contenders for that slot.
The proposed system would leave several major cricketing nations — including Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh — without a direct path to qualification. To address this, the ICC is considering a global qualifier to determine the sixth and final team, with further details expected soon.
“There have been discussions regarding team participation, and it has been agreed that the six teams will come through the top-ranked nation from each region, plus one from a global qualifier. The structure is nearly finalized, and the ICC will share more details in due course,” said a senior administrator involved in the Dubai meeting.
Both men’s and women’s cricket tournaments at LA 2028 will be played in the T20 format. The ICC has confirmed that the competitions will run from July 12 to July 29, 2028, with the women’s final scheduled for July 20 and the men’s final on July 29.
Cricket will return to the Olympics after a 128-year absence. The sport’s only previous appearance was at the 1900 Paris Games, where Great Britain defeated France in a one-off match to win gold.
