Will Sri Lanka qualify?

Sri Lanka Men’s cricket team celebrate after securing Gold at 2014 Asian Games in Incheon

• Cricket returns to Olympics after 128 years
• Only 6 countries from each gender can compete

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed cricket’s return to the Olympics after 128 years when it makes its appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Participating teams will be able to field squads of up to 15 players after the IOC allocated quotas of 90 athletes per gender for the event. The matches will take place at Fairgrounds in Pomona, Southern California.

Where the glitch lies for Sri Lanka is that the matches will be played in the T20I format for both men’s and women’s and only six teams will compete from each gender.

Thus, Sri Lanka’s participation in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics remains uncertain.

If only the top six teams in the ICC T20I rankings are taken as a guideline for qualification Sri Lanka will not qualify for both men’s and women’s tournaments.

Currently, Sri Lanka’s men’s team is ranked 8th and Sri Lanka women’s team is ranked 7th.

With no official cut-off date yet announced by the ICC or the IOC there is still hope for both teams to show some consistency and climb up the rankings into the top 6 before the qualification window closes.

The danger here is that the USA are likely to earn a direct spot at the quadrennial extravaganza as host nation, which means only five teams will be allowed to make the cut through the qualification process. That makes Sri Lanka’s chances even more difficult.

The USA men’s team is currently ranked 18th and the women’s team ranked 26th.

The IOC or the ICC has yet to reveal how teams qualify for the LA 2028 Olympics.

For the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, the ICC guideline for qualification was the eight highest ranked teams from the 2023 Cricket World Cup group stage. Sri Lanka for the first time failed to qualify for the tournament after finishing ninth.

If the same principles are applied for the LA 2028 Olympics by taking the five highest ranked teams from the 2026 T20 World Cup, then Sri Lanka has a slim chance of qualifying as they are co-hosting the tournament with India.

T20I is the only format where Sri Lanka has not shown any improvements over the years. Their Test team has risen to six and so has their ODI side which has also gone up two notches to six after being stagnant at eight for quite a lengthy period.

Cricket’s inclusion in multi-sport events in recent years has reflected the sport’s growing global appeal. Both men’s and women’s teams have featured at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games recently.

Sri Lanka Men’s cricket team led by Lahiru Thirimanne won Gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. The Sri Lanka Women’s team won a Bronze at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and a Silver at the last Asian Games held in Hangzhou in 2023.