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Cricket in Olympics? T20 World Cup upsets prove it's possible

T20 is a format that will help the ICC globalise cricket, writes Farokh Engineer

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The Netherlands players celebrate their win over South Africa. — AFP

By Farokh Engineer

Published: Mon 7 Nov 2022, 1:42 AM

With so many incredible upsets in this Twenty20 World Cup, it's been proved yet again that T20 is the best format to globalise the game of cricket.

It was amazing today to see those happy Dutch faces. I think this World Cup, which has seen as many as six upsets, will inspire a lot of other countries to take cricket more seriously.

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They have already started leagues in California and Miami (US) and even in Canada. I have heard that there is a league in Chicago as well. The infrastructure is already in place.

I think the ICC has done a tremendous job in promoting the sport and I won't be surprised if the T20 format eventually takes cricket to the Olympics.

Recently a friend of mine told me that Brazil have an all-Brazilian women's team that have won the South American championship four times.

It was an eye-opener for me. To see 11 Brazilian players is a tremendous feat for that country, it's a matter of tremendous pride for that country.

It is quite amazing because Brazil are the kings of football. Of course, once you are the king at one sport, you are not gonna stop from trying to be the king at another sport.

So who knows? In another 20-30 years, Brazil may well be playing cricket with the likes of England, Australia, India, Pakistan and New Zealand.

Countries like Japan and China have also got cricket teams now. Then there is Thailand whose all-Thai women's team have made great progress in recent years.

It makes me so happy to see the progress in these new countries because the more this wonderful sport that you and I love spreads, the happier we are because we are spreading its wings.

Talking about taking cricket to the wider world, I was the president of the Kyiv Cricket Club in Ukraine. It was a great honour for me. But it was mostly the Indian and Pakistani expats and some British people that played cricket in Ukraine before the conflict.

So to see all eleven Brazilians in the Brazil cricket team is a feat that should be hugely admired.

As I said, the T20 is the best format to popularise the game. It's the most entertaining format of the game. I know I belong to the Test cricket era, which is wonderful. But when you are competing with other forms of entertainment in new countries, the T20s have the best shot at taking cricket to new heights.

But having said that, I am also very sad for South African cricket. The label of chokers has been slammed on to them. Not without a reason because of the number of times they've choked on important occasions.

How long are they going to keep on doing that? Are they ever going to get the monkey off their backs?

They've got fantastic batsmen and fantastic bowlers. On paper they were among the favourites to reach the semifinals. But they have let the cricketing world down and more importantly, they have let themselves down.

Farokh Engineer is a former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman

THE SIX UPSETS DOWN UNDER

First round

Namibia beat Sri Lanka by 55 runs

Scotland beat West Indies by 42 runs

Ireland beat West Indies by nine wickets

Super 12

Ireland beat England by five runs (DLS)

Zimbabwe beat Pakistan by one run

Netherlands beat South Africa by 13 runs

Farokh Engineer

Published: Mon 7 Nov 2022, 1:42 AM

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