Why Cricket’s Return to the Olympics Will Change American Sports Forever.

For as long as I can remember, cricket was a game that was accessible to only me. I went to school telling my friends about the thrilling game of cricket I had watched the night before, and I got blank stares, laughs, and even some pity. That’s because nobody had heard about the game of cricket when I was growing up in Reno, Nevada. My parents even helped set up a mini Reno Premier League to play cricket and teach cricket to neighbors and friends. It lasted about one season as my family had to move to California. I was so excited, because there was cricket to be played in California, or so I thought. The closest cricket academy was three hours away, and somehow, my brother and I were able to convince our parents to take us there every weekend. I yearned for cricket to become mainstream in America all throughout my childhood. I had been staying up at all hours of the night to watch games from all around the world, except for my own backyard.

Then everything changed in 2016. India was touring the West Indies, but they would be playing a few T20Is in Lauderhill, Florida. I saw India nearly chase 245 in a T20I a decade ago when 200+ chases were nearly impossible. In that moment, I knew that America would bring memorable cricket moments for a long time to come. We had been seeing sprinkles of US Cricket in the decade since then, but it really exploded in 2023 with the introduction of MAJOR LEAGUE CRICKET (MLC). We now had a “Reno Premier League” for all of the United States, and the world was US Cricket’s oyster now. The MLC had global pull, even having teams from three of the most successful IPL franchises of all time (Super Kings, MI, Knight Riders), alongside three original teams (Unicorns, Freedom, Orcas). Cricket now had a dedicated presence in the US, and there was enough time to see US domestic players in action to prepare for the 2024 World Cup.

Nobody expected the US to win a single game of the 2024 T20 World Cup, despite being co-hosts. But they stunned Pakistan, beating them in a super over. For the first time in my life, I had friends, peers, even professors ask me about cricket after hearing that the US beat powerhouses Pakistan in a World Cup. They proceeded to move onto the Super 8’s and although they did not progress from there, the US showed that they are not to be doubted at the world stage. The 2026 World Cup came and went, and although the US did not progress past the group stage, they could hold their heads high. Shadley van Schalkwyk, USA’s fast bowler, was the second highest wicket taker of the tournament, after joint-leaders Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy. Shadley van Schalkwyk also only played 4 games, compared to Bumrah and Chakravarthy’s 8 and 9 games respectively.

Although the USA might be able to qualify for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup, I want to zoom in on cricket’s future at the Olympics ahead of LA28. This will only be the second time that cricket will be in the Olympics, after a 128 year gap. There is enough time to get the game’s fundamentals and culture into the American Cultural Sphere. The Olympics on its own introduces people to new sports by the virtue of showcasing the sport on national television. I thought why not go one step ahead of that? Having the cricket world be more accessible to Americans is paramount, as to grow cricket in the States, there needs to be a grassroots approach. But to even get that grassroots initiative to take off, there needs to be interest in cricket, and I truly do believe the Olympics will be where we can potentially unearth millions of new cricket fanatics - we just need to execute the plans of getting Americans introduced to cricket, and let the beauty of cricket be the rest of the advertising for why we all fell in love with this sport.