By Amlan Chakraborty and Sudipto Ganguly
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI Cricket celebrated its much-awaited return to Olympics on Monday and those in charge of running it are hoping it would not be a one-off appearance at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
It took two years of hard-selling a game which boasts 2.5 billion fans worldwide and is considered a religion in the Indian sub-continent, where the response towards Olympics is lukewarm at best.
Fittingly, the announcement came in Mumbai, headquarters of the game's richest board, and in the middle of the 50-overs World Cup in India, the game's financial engine.
"We are thrilled that cricket's inclusion in the LA28 Olympic Games has been confirmed by the IOC Session today," International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Greg Barclay said in a statement.
"To have the opportunity to showcase our great sport at the LA28 Games, and hopefully many Olympic Games to come, will be great for players and fans alike."
While having cricket in Olympics will guarantee more eyeballs from South Asia, it is also a major boost for the game, which is looking for ways to grow beyond the traditional pockets.
"It's a win-win situation," Barclay later told reporters in Mumbai on what he called a "massive day" for the game.
"We've got a global sport, which I think is the fastest growing global sport but getting on to the biggest sporting stage in the world, the Olympics is a massive shot in the arm for the game."
Cricket returns to the Games after more than a century, having appeared once at the 1900 Olympics, with a proposed six-team Twenty20 format for women and men.
Its Olympic return sets the tone for cricket's growth into a truly global game, said Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley.
"This is a game-changer for our sport that is already among the fastest growing in the world," Hockley said in a statement.
"The Olympic Games will undoubtedly increase the global reach of cricket, inspiring a whole new generation to love and play the game."
Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar said sharing Olympic village with other athletes would be an uplifting experience for the cricketers.
"That is totally fantastic, isn't it?" Gavaskar said while commentating on the Australia v Sri Lanka World Cup match in Lucknow.
"What an experience it'll be for every team, and particularly the Indian team, to be able to see what the Olympic Village is like, to be able to spend time with other athletes, other champions."
(Editing by Christian Radnedge)