Sandeep Lamichhane is a prodigious young talent from Nepal, which is India’s neighbour. He is the first Nepalese cricketer to be signed to an IPL team, and the best part about his career so far is that it is only getting started.
Career
Domestic Career
Sandeep made his unofficial senior team debut against a visiting MCC squad as a 15-year-old in November 2015. Lamichhane dismissed Hong Kong wicketkeeper Scott McKechnie twice for the MCC, leading him to sign the young legspinner to play for Kowloon Cantons in the inaugural Hong Kong T20 Blitz in May 2016.
He was named in Nepal’s under-19 squad for the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup before making his List A debut. The young leg-spinner picked up the game easily and made his List-A debut against Namibia in the ICC World Cricket League Championship.
After being impressed by his bowling, Lamichhane received a letter from former Australian captain Michael Clarke in September 2016, inviting him to play for the Western Suburbs District Cricket Club in Sydney.
IPL and other T20 leagues Career
As Sandeep Lamichhane became the first player from Nepal to appear in the Indian Premier League, he made history. His debut season with the Delhi Capitals in 2018 was so good that he was one of the franchise’s five overseas players retained for the 2019 season. Lamichhane has played 9 games and taken 13 wickets at an average of 22.46 in the two seasons. He’s developed a close bond with Amit Mishra, a seasoned veteran. The leg-spinner will be aiming to make the most of the sandy pitches in Dubai, which will host the 2020 IPL.
Lamichhane’s remarkable streak continued in March 2018, when he was picked to play in the Caribbean Premier League for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. Lamichane was chosen to play for the Montreal Tigers in the inaugural Global T20 Canada tournament in June 2018.
International Career
Sandeep made his Twenty20 International debut against the West Indies, where he was part of a World XI team. He was the first cricketer to play for a composite team in a T20 international match. In August 2018, he was one of eleven cricketers who took part in Nepal’s first One Day International (ODI) match against the Netherlands. The 17-year-old was also an essential part of Nepal’s squad that played in the 2019 World Cup qualifiers. Lamichhane also flourished in the WCL Championship, and in 2018, he excelled in the Division Two tournament, winning the man of the tournament award and leading his country to the World Cup qualifiers for the second time in history.
Lamichhane took his first five-wicket haul in an ODI match on February 12, 2020, against the United States in the 2020 Nepal Tri-Nation Series.
Background
Sandeep Lamichhane was born in Aruchaur, Syangja, to Kopila Devi and Chander Narayan Lamichhane on August 2, 2000. Sandeep’s father is an Indian Railways employee. Lamichchane got involved in cricket when he was six or seven years old, and he spent the next five years of his life in Haryana, India. He moved to Nepal at the age of 11 and enrolled in the ‘Chitwan Cricket Academy‘ in Narayangarh, Bharatpur, Nepal, where he was trained by Raju Khadka. Lamichhane released his first single, Udash thiyo, from the album Pratikshya-the Waiting, in July 2018.