Cricket was last played in the Olympics in the 1900 Paris Games and now the Int'l Cricket Council is "pushing for a return of the T20 variant of the sport" in the '24 event, according to Dwaipayan Datta of TNN. But for that to happen, the ICC needs the Board of Control for Cricket in India, "a firm believer of cricket being a non-Olympic sport," on board. Most of the BCCI officials are "not ready to play ball." A senior BCCI exec said, "We have heard about the ICC's Olympics initiative but most members are not keen." The IOC "made it clear to the ICC that there has to be an assurance of the top teams and players participating in the event" -- only then can the bid "even be considered." It means that the ICC is "not in a position to go ahead with the bid without India, the nerve-centre of world cricket." The Indian diaspora is a "huge market for the sport and that has to be tapped for cricket to have a chance of making the Olympic cut." The ICC approached the BCCI to take a call on the issue so that it can "move forward with the bidding process," which will take place in September. Time is "running out" for the ICC but the Indian board, which has been "mired in a legal tangle, has not made much of a headway." The court-appointed Committee of Administrators, which has a final say on the day-to-day workings of the BCCI, asked for a report from BCCI CEO Rahul Johri on the "feasibility of cricket being part of the Olympics" (TNN, 7/31).
