Kathmandu – Sandeep Lamichhane will join Nepal’s T20 World Cup squad in the West Indies after skipping the match in the US due to a visa refusal.
Nepal originally wanted to elect Lamichha, a former violinist who was sentenced to eight years in prison for rape, but was twice denied a US visa despite intense lobbying.
The T20 World Cup is hosted by USA and West Indies.
“Nepalese player Sandeep Lamichhane will go to West Indies to participate in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup and will join the national cricket team of Nepal,” said Union Secretary Paras Khadka.
Spin bowler Lamichhane, 23, was once the poster child of cricket in Nepal, but in 2022 he was accused of raping a young woman in a Kathmandu hotel. It was canceled last month.
“I am now joining our national team for the last two matches in the West Indies and hope to fulfill my dream and the dream of all cricket lovers,” Lamichane posted in an earlier tweet on X.
“I will always be thankful for your blessings on all our cricket fans and people back home wherever they have been praying for me.”
With the announcement, social media posts were welcomed by fans and flooded with congratulatory messages.
Nepal lost their World Cup opener to the Netherlands by six wickets. West Indies play Sri Lanka in Florida on Wednesday before group matches against South Africa and Bangladesh.
Before the rape trial, Lamichhane achieved success as a leg spinner, greatly raising the profile of our sport in the Himalayan republic.
When his first arrest warrant was issued in 2022, Lamichane was unable to return from Jamaica, where he played in the Caribbean Premier League.
He was sacked as national captain and arrested, but Nepal overturned the ban when he was released on bail.
Until he was sentenced in January, he continued to play, including last year’s Asia Cup in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The case was dismissed in mid-May.
Cricket does not get as much attention in Nepal as it does in the South Asian region. But the sport has grown in popularity and Nepal was awarded one-day international status by the world governing body in 2018.
Lamichhane has been a key part of his rise as Nepal’s most sought-after cricketer in lucrative T20 leagues around the world.
His big break from bowling came in 2018 when he prepared for the Indian Premier League, the richest cricket tournament in the world.
