Sandeep Lamichhane, a well-known cricket player from Kathmandu, Nepal, said on Wednesday that he was not granted a visa by the US embassy to attend the T20 World Cup. He was hoped to return to international cricket after being found not guilty in a rape case.
The only cricket player from Nepal to have participated in the Indian Premier League, Lamichhane, suffered a severe career blow when he was detained in September 2022 on suspicion of raping an 18-year-old female. Later, he was freed on bond, but his ability to play cricket both domestically and internationally was still barred.
The 23-year-old leg-spinner was included to the Nepal cricket board’s World Cup roster by the ICC after he was declared innocent by an appeals court exactly one week prior.
“And the @USEmbassyNepal repeated its 2019 action of refusing me visa to attend the T-20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. Unfortunately. I apologize to everyone who has sent Nepal Cricket best wishes. “@USAmbNepal @CricketNep,” Lamichhane wrote on X, referencing a previous post from 2019 in which he described his visa denial.
Lamichhane attempted to play in the Caribbean Premier League in 2019, but the US embassy refused to grant him a visa. Nepal, who is preparing for its one and only T20 World Cup, is grouped with South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands.
All-round batsman Rohit Paudel had taken charge of Nepal’s squad in Lamichhane’s absence.
According to media sources, the president of the Cricket Association of Nepal, Chatur Bahadur Chand, has stated that Lamichhane is being considered for inclusion in the Nepali team for the World Cup.Lamichhane is nearing the 100-wicket mark in the Twenty20 format, having claimed 112 wickets in 51 One-Day Internationals. He has taken 98 wickets in 52 T20I appearances thus far.
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