Cricket won’t be part of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2026, which has caught many fans off guard, especially since the sport made a triumphant return just four years ago. This decision is particularly surprising after the Indian women's team clinched a historic silver medal at the Birmingham 2022 Games, narrowly losing the final to Australia. That event marked cricket's comeback to the Commonwealth Games after a long 24-year absence. Unfortunately, the 2026 edition will see both men's and women's cricket left out. The organizers have decided to drop the sport as part of a significant overhaul aimed at keeping the Games affordable, especially after Glasgow stepped in as the new host.

The overall program has been trimmed down quite a bit. Glasgow 2026 will showcase only 10 sports, a stark contrast to the 19 that were featured in Birmingham 2022. Alongside cricket, other sports like hockey, badminton, and wrestling have also been cut. The organizers opted for a more compact schedule to ensure the event remains financially viable and manageable within a tighter budget, making cricket one of the most notable losses in this reshuffle.

Cricket's CWG History And The Reason Behind Its 2026 Exclusion

Cricket made its debut at the Commonwealth Games back in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, featuring a men's ODI tournament with 16 teams. South Africa, under the captaincy of Shaun Pollock, took home the gold after a thrilling final against Australia, while New Zealand snagged the bronze by beating Sri Lanka. After that, cricket went off the radar for nearly 25 years, only to make a comeback at Birmingham 2022 as a women's T20 event with eight teams competing. Australia, led by Meg Lanning, clinched the gold medal, India walked away with silver, and New Zealand secured bronze.

Unfortunately, cricket's return was short-lived. For the Glasgow 2026 Games, organizers decided to drop cricket along with badminton, hockey, squash, table tennis, triathlon, wrestling, beach volleyball, and rugby sevens. The new lineup now includes athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, 3Γ—3 basketball, bowls, netball, artistic gymnastics, judo, and boxing. This streamlined schedule is part of the organizers' strategy to host the Games with fewer venues and lower operational costs after Glasgow took over from Victoria as the host city.

 

This reduced program is a significant setback for India's medal aspirations. At the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, India finished fourth with a total of 61 medals, and 30 of those came from sports that have now been cut. Wrestling alone contributed 12 medals, followed by table tennis with seven, badminton with six, and two each from hockey and squash, plus one from cricket. These six sports made up nearly half of India's medal haul. To make matters worse, shooting and archery - two events where India has historically shone, were already absent from the Commonwealth Games lineup, further limiting the country's chances to boost its medal count in Glasgow.