When Los Angeles hosts the Olympic Games in 2028, five additional sports will be in the lineup.
The International Olympic Committee on Monday approved adding five sports to the Los Angeles Games: Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash.
"The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the Olympic Games LA28 unique," IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.
It will be a return to the Olympics for baseball/softball, cricket and lacrosse, while flag football and squash will be making their Olympic debut in LA.
Baseball and softball have been part of the programme at several editions of the Olympics, most recently at Tokyo 2020. Lacrosse was included on the programme at St Louis 1904 and London 1908.
For cricket, it will be the first time in 128 years the game is being featured in the Olympics.
"It is so exciting that cricket is now an Olympic sport and will make its return at LA28," Mithali Raj, former India captain and leading female run scorer of all time, said in a statement. "Players will get the chance to compete for an Olympic gold medal and be part of the games which will be so special. It's also a chance for more fans around the world to enjoy our fantastic sport."
So, what exactly is cricket? Played with a bat and a ball, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world with 2.5 billion fans.
"Cricket at the Los Angeles Olympics will be a six-team event for both men and women and will be played in the Twenty20 format," the Associated Press reported.
The Twenty20 format is a faster-pace, condensed version of the game lasting around three hours. During the game, each team bats once for 20 overs (120 balls), and fields once.
According to the Olympics, each team is made up of 11 members, including one person to keep wicket (similar to a catcher in baseball, the wicketkeeper is the person who receives the ball that is delivered from the bowler).
A minimum of five bowlers must be on each team as no single player may bowl more than one-fifth of the scheduled innings. All 11 players on the team may bat. Players who bat remain "in" until they are out, meaning each player will only bat once per game. As the game is limited by the number of overs, some players may not get a chance to bat.
A team will score runs for each physical run the two batters make along the wicket, except if the ball has crossed the playing boundary: four runs if it happens along the ground, and six runs if it happens in the air without the ball touching the ground.
At the end of the 20 overs, or if a team has lost 10 wickets (meaning only one player of the 11 is left "not out"), the team's innings is closed and the number of runs totaled is the team's score. The other team then has 20 overs (or 10 wickets) to catch that total. If they do so, they win; otherwise the first team is the winner.
The Los Angeles Games will feature 28 other sports.