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Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane gets reprieve, to feature in T20 World Cup
16 May, 2024
The 23-year-old leg-spinner, who faced allegations of raping an 18-year-old, has been acquitted by the Patan High Court paving the way for his inclusion in Nepal's T20 World Cup squad
Nepal cricket team received a shot in the arm ahead of the T20 World Cup after their top leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was cleared of allegations of rape and will now be reportedly eligible to participate in the quadrennial cricket tournament.
The young 23-year-old leggie received reprieve from the Patan High Court.
“The verdict from the district court has been fully overturned,” Tirtharaj Bhattarai, spokesperson at the High Court, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post newspaper.
“The defendant Sandeep Lamichhane has been acquitted.”
Since the International Cricket Council (ICC) has given deadline until May 25 for countries to name their final squad, Cricket Association of Nepal have time to include Lamichhane, their most well-known cricketer.
“Since the high court has cleared Sandeep Lamichhane from all the allegations, he is now cleared to play all forms of cricket," a CAN spokesperson was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.com.
The 15-member provisional squad is led by Rohit Paudel.
Sompal Kami is the only player from Nepal’s debut 2014 campaign in the squad for the 2024 edition, with the fast bowling all-rounder joined by Karan KC as the elder statesman of the group, said a release from ICC.
Nepal provisional squad: Rohit Paudel (captain), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee
Cricket, Nepal cricket, Sandeep Lamichhane, T20 World Cup