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Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane will be available for Nepal's final two league games in the T20 World Cup 2024 as he landed in the West Indies on Monday (June 10). The youngster took to his official handle on X and thanked the Government of Nepal, Sports Ministry, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), and other relevant stakeholders for helping him get to the Caribbean.
Lamichhane missed the initial couple of matches as the United States of America (USA) had rejected his visa after being acquitted in a rape case recently, raising the prospect of him missing the entire tournament. However, the right-arm wrist-spinner will be available for the national team's West Indies' leg of the showpiece event.
Lamichhane took to X to express his excitement, writing:
"Namaste, Hello from West Indies! First of all, I would like to thank the Government of Nepal, the Foreign Ministry, the Sports Ministry, the National Sports Council(NSC), and the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) for their support to help me get the US visa but unfortunately it did not work out this time. But now through all of that aside, I am now joining the National Team for the last two matches in the West Indies and looking forward to fulfilling my dreams and the dream of all cricket lovers."
Lamichhane went on to condemn those trying to ruin the image of CAN officials and urged everyone not to follow false propaganda. He wrote:
"I am disheartened to see the deliberate image-tarnishing of important figures like Chatur Sir and Paras Dai, who made my comeback possible. Please don't follow all the false propaganda surrounding my visa issues that people are using to tarnish CAN and Nepal cricket's image."
The 23-year-old has an outstanding T20I record, picking up 112 wickets in 51 games at 18.06 with three fifers.
Nepal and Sri Lanka to lock horns on June 12
Meanwhile, the sub-continent side will face Sri Lanka in their next match at Lauderhill, Florida, on June 12 as they aim to bounce back from the narrow defeat against the Netherlands.
The Rohit Paudel-led side were bowled out for 106 in Dallas, but ran the Dutch incredibly close as it required 18.4 overs from them to win the game. Their last two matches are against South Africa and Bangladesh - both in Kingstown.
