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Sandeep Lamichhane, the renowned spinner from Nepal, has announced his arrival in the West Indies for the last two group stage matches of their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. Initially denied a visa to enter the United States of America (USA), which ruled him out of the early stages of the tournament, Lamichhane’s presence is expected to significantly bolster Nepal’s chances in their upcoming games.
Sandeep Lamichhane expresses gratitude
In a heartfelt social media post, Lamichhane expressed his gratitude to various entities, including the Government of Nepal, the Foreign Ministry, the Sports Ministry, the National Sports Council (NSC), and the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), for their relentless efforts in securing his participation. He thanked key figures such as President Chatur Bahadur Chand, former player Paras Khadka and his lawyer Saroj K Ghimire for their extraordinary dedication.
Appeal for positive support from fans
Lamichhane emphasized the importance of positive support from fans, urging them to celebrate Nepal cricket’s return to the World Cup after a decade. He expressed his disheartenment over false propaganda tarnishing the image of key figures who supported his return and appealed to fans to disregard such misinformation.
Namaste 🙏
Hello from West Indies.🏝️❤️— Sandeep Lamichhane (@Sandeep25)
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Confirmation from the Cricket Association of Nepal
The Cricket Association of Nepal on X confirmed Lamichhane’s arrival in the West Indies, enabling him to play in Nepal’s final two group stage matches. Despite being denied a US visa twice, his participation has been facilitated through coordinated efforts involving the ICC and other official networks.
“The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has confirmed Sandeep Lamichhane is already in the Caribbean to play the T20 World Cup 2024. Lamichhane was denied a US visa twice, which prevented him from participating in the initial stages of the T20 World Cup. However, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has confirmed that he is now in the Caribbean and will play in Nepal’s two league stage games in the West Indies,” the statement reads.
Navigating legal challenges and a comeback
Lamichhane’s cricketing journey faced a significant hurdle when he was arrested in September 2022 on charges of raping an 18-year-old girl. After being rel🦋eased on bail and facing suspension from playing both domestically and internationally, an appeals court recently acquitted him, leading to the ICC clearing him for inclusion in Nepal’s World Cup squad.
Impact on Nepal’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign
Lamichhane missed Nepal’s earlier matches, including their defeat against the Netherlands and the game against Sri Lanka. However, his return is timely as Nepal prepares to face South Africa and Bangladesh in the West Indies. These matches, scheduled for June 15 and 17 at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St. Vincent, are crucial for Nepal’s progress in the tournament.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Sandeep Lamichhane has arrived in the West Indies and will join the Nepal squad for the final two group stage matches in the T20 World C🌞up 2024. He was denied a USA visa but granted for the West Indies.
— Vipin Tiwari (@Vipintiwari952_)
Somebody who has left everything to ensure betterment🍨 of Nepali cricket has to come up with explanations about how the allegations on him are false that too twice within a span of a month tells us a lot about our society and the mentꦿality of the people.
— Siddhant (@__s1ddhant__)
Nepal's star cricketer, Sandeep Lamichhane, will join the national team for the last two group-stage matches of the T20 World Cup in the West Indies. He replaces Pratish GC, who will move to the reserves. Lamichhane's inclusion comes after his visa was denied for matches in the…
— iNFO_CRIC|SPORTS (@cric_info_saif)
Bangladesh vs Nepal match gonna be a bloc🌌kbuster one with incl🌃usion of Lamichhane.
— Saymon Reza (@SaymonReza99)
Cry whoever needs to cry 😜
— Shishir Parajuli 🇳🇵 (@ccerparajuli)
Many fans don't understand that all decision taken by CAN is not directly taken by Secretary. Its a collective decision most of time. It will take time to clean the mess in the CAN over night but I believe we are in the right direction.
— Bijay Uprety 🇳🇵 (@BijayOCT25)
I have seen many good tweets in this post but I came to know that there are many negative people than posit🧸ive. So I will like to urge Sandeep not to be sad with negative tweets because there is also many people who are supporting you and who believe you are innocent. BESTofLUCK.
— Aadarsh Jung kunwar (@aadarshjkunwar)
So Caribbean government was stupid enough to grant him Visa and 𒐪the US 🍒wasn’t???
Want him to lose badly
Horrible to see him play🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️— Random Guy Here (@arandomguyposts)
People should know we are important too. Nepali can also negotiate and we have voice too. If we can handle situation like this with US. We can also negotiate with o𝄹ther countries in foreign matters. Just need a strong will and personal from a political party.
— Sarjit Adhikari (@AdhikariSarjit)
Why doesn't ban this fellow ?
— Shuveshek Rai (@shuveshek)
