KATHMANDU: Nepal captain Sandeep Lamichhane has been suspended by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), following the issuance of an arrest warrant in Kathmandu over an alleged case of coercion of another person. On Thursday, it was made public that a complaint against Lamichhane was lodged in a Kathmandu police station. At the time, Lamichhane was in the West Indies with the Jamaica Tallawahs squad for CPL 2022. Lamichhane has not featured in any of the three games for the side so far, and Tallawahs announced on Thursday that he would be leaving the tournament with immediate effect.
The statement from CAN’s acting secretary Prashant Vikram Malla said that Lamichhane’s suspension would remain in place pending a complete investigation. It also said that Lamichhane has been summoned to report to the police in Kathmandu, who are investigating the complaint. The decision to suspend him was taken following a meeting of the
CAN board. Lamichhane tweeted a response, saying he was “taking leave” from the CPL and returning to Nepal. He stressed his innocence and said he was ready to face the “baseless allegations”.
Lamichhane, 22, is arguably Nepal’s most high-profile cricketer, the only one to have played in T20 leagues around the world, including the IPL, Australia’s Big Bash League, the Bangladesh Premier League, the Lanka Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League. His fame grew exponentially when in January 2018, at age 17, he became the first Nepalese player to be snapped up at an IPL auction, fetching a bid of INR 20 lakh (at the time USD 31,000 approx.) from Delhi Daredevils.
Since his international debut in May 2018, he has represented Nepal in 30 ODIs and 44 T20Is. One of the highlights for him was a haul of 17 wickets in a Player-of-the-Tournament performance at 2018 WCL Division Two in Namibia, propelling Nepal into the World Cup Qualifier for only the second time ever. In December 2021, Lamichhane replaced Gyanendra Malla as Nepal’s captain, and is currently the sixth-youngest man to captain an ODI team. Lamichhane is also currently the second-fastest man to 50 ODI wickets and is the third-fastest man to 50 T20I wickets.