Nepal are still clinging on to hope of including Sandeep Lamichhane in their T20 World Cup squad despite the leg-spinner getting his visa to the USA denied. Once Nepal Cricket’s poster-boy, Lamichhane had a drastic fall to from glory when he was convicted of raping a young woman in 2022.
Lamichhane was given a sentence of 8 years, but it was quashed on appeal last week. Since then, the Nepal Cricket Association have been trying to get the star included in the T20 World Cup squad.
Visa trouble
Sandeep Lamichhane, the former captain, announced late on Wednesday that he had been denied a visa to the T20 World Cup by the US Embassy in Nepal. He described the decision as “unfortunate.”.
Not all hope lost
While the visa rejection seemed like the final nail in the coffin of Lamichhane’s dream to play T20 World Cup 2024, Nepal’s cricket board has not given up yet.
Latest News on T20 WC
On Thursday, Chatur Bahadur Chand, the president of the Cricket Association of Nepal, told AFP that they were “trying to see if we can still make it possible for him to join.”.
In their second T20 World Cup, Nepal will play their opening match in Dallas on June 4 against the Netherlands. They will then play group matches against Bangladesh, South Africa, and Sri Lanka respectively.