Virat Kohli welcomed the inclusion of Crick at the Los Angeles Olympic Games of 2028 and, although the Great Indian will not be shaken by retirement for the masterpiece, he said he believed that a new generation of Indian athletes would be ready to attack the gold.
Cricket returns to games after more than a century with a format of six Twenty20 teams proposed for men and women in Los Angeles.
Kohli, 36, who withdrew from the shortest sport format last June after the triumph of the Indian World Cup, said that international leagues around the world had played an important role in raising the profile of the sport and making sure that it was exhibited in the games.
“It’s great, I mean, when I heard the news, I was very happy about that,” said Kohli, who continues to play 50 and Crick Test for India, he said during the Indian Innovation Lab RCB Sports Summit on Saturday.
“It has happened, and the amount of Crickt T20 that has been played worldwide, the leagues played throughout the world and India Premier League (IPL) have also also played a massive role,” he said.
“You have Cricket to the stage where it is part of the Olympic Games. It is a great opportunity for some of our athletes to try it. ”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in October 2023 that the inclusion of Crick for the first time since the 1900 Games had the potential to activate and involve new audiences, with the World Sports Fans Base estimated at 2.5 billion people.
With millions of his followers around the world and on social networks, the presence of Kohli in the Games would have played a very important role in the impulse of sport.
But the batter, who continues to play T20 for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, said there were little chances of returning to the national team in the format.
“I don’t know, maybe if we are playing for the gold medal in which I could sneak into a game, get the medal and return home,” Kohli said with a smile.
“No, but I think it’s a big thing. Being Olympic champions would be an absolutely magnificent sensation. A first of its kind and I am sure we will be somewhere near that. “
