Sandeep Lamichhane has been left out of Nepal’s squad for the upcoming Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series in Dubai, featuring UAE and Papua New Guinea. Lamichhane is currently out on bail, facing charges of the sexual coercion of another person, and bail conditions prevent him from travelling abroad.
Nepal’s participation in the tri-series begins on Monday when they take on PNG in Dubai. Lamichhane’s importance to the Nepal team was underlined last week, as he picked up 13 wickets in four matches of the tri-series at home featuring Namibia and Scotland. That performance helped Nepal win all four games in close finishes. He returned three wickets in each of the first three games before picking up four in the final game against Scotland.
His involvement in that series was met with some protest by fans as well as opponents. Scotland players refused to shake hands with Lamichhane post-game, while Namibia decided to bump fists rather than shake hands after one of their games. The boards of both teams also issued statements ahead of the series, condemning gender-based violence.
Lamichhane was suspended by CAN last year after an arrest warrant was issued for the allegations against him. He was taken into police custody and later granted bail, which was followed by his suspension being lifted by CAN earlier this month and his inclusion in the squad for the trip-series against Namibia and Scotland.
Nepal are placed sixth in the seven-team league table. Lamichhane has picked up 55 wickets in the competition – the most for Nepal – and is third in the overall list of wicket-takers.
Squad: Rohit Paudel (capt), Dipendra Singh Airee, Gyanendra Malla, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharki, Sundeep Jora, Kushal Malla, Shyam Dhakal, Gulshan Jha, Aarif Sheikh, Pratis GC
Source: ESPN Crickinfo