The Nepal Cricket team recently achieved a historic feat during their three-match T20I series against two-time World Champions West Indies.
Nepal outclassed the Windies in the series opener by 19 runs to record their first victory against a Full Member nation before winning the second T20I by a massive margin of 90 runs and in the process, registered their first series win against a Full Member nation.
However, during their stellar campaign, Nepal were without their star spinner Sandeep Lamichhane despite the 25-year-old being named in the original squad.
When quizzed about the same, Nepal’s head coach Stuart Law had said, “Sandeep is going through personal stuff and hence he chooses not to play. I don’t know much in detail.”
ALSO READ:
While it was initially understood that Lamichhane cited personal issues for his absence, it is now known that the leading spinner was actually suspended by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).
The reason behind the suspension is that Lamichhane had made a late withdrawal very close to the start of the first match, according to ESPNCricinfo. To be precise, he made his decision known just 45 minutes before the start of the match and only 15 minutes prior to the toss. The development subsequently had a difficult impact on the side but they showed tremendous character to emerge as winners.
After the first game, the Nepal board had informed the team management to bench Lamichhane from the remaining two games, essentially ruling him out of the series.
After their heroics against West Indies, the Rohit Paudel-led side will now shift their focus to the T20 World Cup 2026 Asia Qualifers Final where they will be competing with Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea with two places up for grabs at the ICC event. Notably, Lamichhane has been picked in the Nepal squad for the same.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.