The sight of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in the stands at the Rio Games rugby on Saturday was a reminder that at least one major international sport remains outside the Olympic embrace.

Accompanied by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, India's greatest sporting icon watched the opening matches of a shortened version of a sport that has some parallels with his own.

Like rugby, the elite level of cricket is largely populated by a handful of former British colonies, and the game is widely perceived as unfathomable by many outside that heartland. Yet cricket has been slow to take up the chance to return to the Olympic fold.