LA Olympics 2028: Cricket matches for medals to take place on THESE dates

Representational Image (Pic: File Pic)

Cricket's long-deserved return to the Olympics at the Los Angeles Games will take place at the Fairgrounds Stadium in the city of Pomona. It is situated 50 km away from LA. The event is scheduled to begin on July 12, with the medal matches to be played on July 20 and 29 in 2028.

A total of six teams will participate in the global showpiece in both men's and women's categories, while 180 players will compete in the shortest format of the game. Before this, the Olympics hosted cricket for the first time in 1900. Back then, only two teams participated in the event, Great Britain and France. The teams locked horns against each other for a two-day match, with Great Britain coming victorious by 158 runs to clinch the gold medal.

According to the event's schedule, there are no matches to be played on July 14 and 21. Additionally, two matches will be played on one day.

With a total of 90 athlete quotas allocated in the men's and women's sections, the 12 competing teams can name 15-member squads.

Cricket's growing popularity can be gauged from the fact that three venues in the United States, Grand Prairie, Lauderhill, and New York, organised several matches of the 2024 T20 World Cup, jointly hosted by the USA and the West Indies.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had approved cricket, baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash as five new sports to feature at the 2028 Games.

"When the world comes here for these Games, we will highlight every neighbourhood as we host a Games for all and work to ensure it leaves a monumental legacy.

"We are already delivering that legacy as we announce there have been more than one million enrollments in PlayLA. I want to thank LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for making these programs possible and for their continued work to host the greatest Games yet," said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a statement.

(With PTI Inputs)