Include T20 cricket in 2020 Olympics: Gilchrist

New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist feels that administrators should press for the inclusion of Twenty20 cricket in the Olympics from 2020.

''This may seem like a pipe dream but it is a potential reality. It doesn't matter where the 2020 Olympic Games are held but many of us who've experienced international Twenty20 cricket and the IPL are convinced that cricket should bid to become an Olympic sport in time for the 2020 Olympic Games, wherever they're held,'' Gilchrist, who was part of the Indian Premier League playing for Deccan Chargers Hyderabad, wrote in his column for 'Deccan Herald'.

Gilchrist said cricket was included only once in the Olympics in 1900, the time has come for the Gentleman's game to be a permanent part, especially with the advent of Twenty20.

''Now is the time for the 10 full member-nations of the ICC to plan for the development of the sport over the next 100 years.

Over the next century, the challenge for all of us who love the game is to spread the word of cricket to parts of the globe that have never heard of it and currently don't play our sport,'' he said.

''I believe the Olympic Games is the vehicle the sport should use to aggressively sell the message of our sport to all 202 competing Olympic nations, so our sport is strong and robust in countries where it is currently played and exciting and ground-breaking in countries who haven't yet caught the 'cricket-bug','' he added.

Gilchrist, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, said the incredible success of the shortest form of the game through the IPL means that cricket has shed the image of being long and dreary.

''The IPL has been such a success and has changed cricket forever. I saw the revolution first-hand during my time in Hyderabad, he added.

UNI CS AB VP1210