ICC chair Jay Shah congratulates Shah Rukh Khan after unveiling of LA2028 cricket venue in California
Dubai, July 2
International Cricket Council chairman Jay Shah congratulated actor Shah Rukh Khan as he and his Knight Riders Group officially unveiled a new world-class cricket stadium at the Fairplex in Pomona, Los Angeles, California.
The new venue is set to host cricket matches during the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, making it an important step for the sport's growth in the country.
Posting on X, Shah said, "Congratulations @iamsrk. This is a key milestone in Cricket's return to the Olympics, made possible by the collaboration between the @LA_KnightRiders, @la28 and @icc. Growing cricket around the world is a collective effort, and initiatives such as this one help create new ecosystems for fans and players, which fuel this growth. I wish you the best and look forward to being on the journey ahead with you."
The venue that will host cricket's historic return to the Summer Olympics during the 2028 Los Angeles edition hosted its first-ever cricket match on Thursday.
The newly built Knight Riders Cricket Ground in Pomona, California, hosted the Major League Cricket (MLC) match between the home team, Los Angeles Knight Riders and Washington Freedom, as per Olympics.com.
The match saw one-time MLC champions WSF chase down 109 runs, courtesy of Steve Smith (40*) and Mark Chapman (34). Pacer Saurabh Netrawalkar (3/16) was the standout bowler for WSF.
The venue is hosting seven matches in the 2026 edition of MLC and will serve as the cricket venue for the LA Olympics. It features eight wickets on the main square, with ICC standard playing dimensions adhered to and six floodlight towers which are 120 feet tall.
Over 32,000 metric tonnes of earth were moved during construction to create the purpose-built international venue.
The qualification system for cricket at the LA Olympic 2028 has been officially published after receiving approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board.
At the same time, the IOC also confirmed revisions to the qualification pathway for surfing ahead of the LA Games.
Cricket is set to return to the Olympic Games at LA28, marking its first appearance in 128 years since it was last featured at the Paris 1900 Olympics. The event will include separate men's and women's T20 competitions, with six teams in each category. Every team can have up to 15 players, with 90 athlete quota places available for both the men's and women's tournaments. In total, 28 matches will be played across the two events.
The approval marks another milestone in the LA Games qualification process, with qualification systems for 49 sports and disciplines having been endorsed since December 2025. Boxing and water polo were the latest sports to receive approval in May 2026. Athletics and football are now the only two sports awaiting confirmation of their qualification systems, which are expected to be announced in the coming days.
Five qualification spots in each event will be decided through a mix of ICC tournaments and T20I rankings based on the approved FTP structure. The final spot will be awarded through the inaugural ICC Olympics Qualifier, scheduled for 2027.
Early qualification has already been confirmed through the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, with Australia, Great Britain (via England), India and South Africa securing places as the highest-ranked eligible teams from their respective continents, with a limit of one team per region.
The West Indies are not eligible for Olympic participation as they do not represent a single IOC-recognised National Olympic Committee. However, if their men's or women's teams rank among the top eight unqualified sides by the end of 2026, a Caribbean Qualifier will be held to decide which nation from the region advances.
The USA, as hosts from the Americas, can qualify for both events if their teams rank inside the top 15 during the June-December 2026 qualification window. If they fail to meet this condition, their automatic spot will be reassigned to the next highest-ranked eligible team based on ICC rankings.
The remaining men's slots will be filled through ICC T20I rankings, with the top eligible teams from each continent qualifying as of 31 December 2026. The final places in both events will then be decided at the 2027 ICC Olympics Qualifier, which will feature eight teams per gender, with details of the venue and schedule to be announced later.
Qualified teams will each be allowed a 15-player squad. The competition will feature two groups of three teams, with each team playing the others in its group once, along with two additional matches against teams from the opposite group that finished in different positions.
The top two teams will compete for the gold and silver medals, while the third- and fourth-placed teams will play for bronze.
— ANI
Reader Comments
It's great to see cricket expanding globally, but I hope the ICC and BCCI don't neglect grassroots development in India itself. Our domestic players still struggle for basic facilities in many states. Let's celebrate this but also remember where the sport truly belongs ❤️
As an Indian-American, this is huge for the diaspora here. We finally have a world-class venue to cheer our team in person. Fairplex is easily accessible from across SoCal. Kudos to Shah Rukh for making this happen—real King Khan energy! 🙌
Cricket in the Olympics is finally happening—after 128 years! But the qualification process seems complicated. Only 6 teams per gender? That's a bit tight. Still, kudos to all stakeholders. Hope the women's team does well too! 🇮🇳
Amazing initiative by SRK and Jay Shah. But why is the ICC giving so much credit to the Knight Riders Group? This is a private venture, not a national effort. We should also appreciate the local American cricket community's work in growing the sport there. Just my two paise 😊
So excited for LA28! I'm an American who fell in love with cricket during a trip to India. This stadium sounds incredible—32,000 metric tonnes of earth moved?! That's dedication. Can't wait to see Steve Smith and others play there again. Cricket is truly becoming global! 🌎🏏
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