Sandeep Lamichhane To Play For Worcestershire In The T20 Blast 2021

Nepal’s leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has been roped in by Worcestershire for the upcoming season of the T20 Blast. The signing was announced by the official Twitter handle of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

While he has played 10 ODI and 21 T20Is for Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane is one of the most sought-after players in franchise leagues around the world. The leg-spinner has played in the top-tier T20 leagues in the world such as the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League amongst others.

Sandeep Lamichhane, 20, has experience of 96 T20 matches in which he has snapped 125 wickets at an average of 18.86 and a brilliant economy of 6.79.

Alex Gidman, coach of the Worcestershire Rapids, is excited to have the young leg-spinner on his team for this season’s T20 Blast. Gidman reckons the leg-spinner will add the mystery element to his side. This will be the first experience in the tournament for the Nepal-both leggie.

“Sandeep has played in many tournaments and gained a lot of experience in franchise cricket. He’s a leg-spinner, which is a bit of mystery spin we believe we need in our squad in terms of balance, so we are ecstatic with the signing. This is his first taste of playing in England, and I’m sure he will do well and have an enjoyable summer with us,” Alex Gidman said in a club statement.

Look forward to the day where more & more talented players from Nepal will feature in county: Sandeep Lamichhane

Sandeep Lamichhane has warmly accepted the 2018 champions’ call. He is, too, excited to be a part of the Blast. The youngster hopes for other talented cricketers from Nepal to soon play in the franchise league as he does.

“Absolutely happy to be the part of @WorcsCCC family for @VitalityBlast. Always heard that county cricket is more than cricket because of it’s culture, decorum and amazing crowd. I look forward to the day where more & more talented players from Nepal will feature in county. #2FIVE,” tweeted Sandeep Lamichhane.

In 2018 Lamichhane became the first cricketer from Nepal to play in the IPL. He was bought by the now-defunct Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) for his base price of Rs. 20 Lakhs. However, the opportunities for him were few and far between; in three seasons with the franchise, he made into the eleven only 9 times – owing to the strong Indian spin-bowlers Delhi possessed – but was impressive picking up 13 wickets.

He warmed the bench for the entire last season and was released for IPL 2021; the spinner went unsold in this year’s auction.

Absolutely happy to be the part of @WorcsCCC family for @VitalityBlast. Always heard that county cricket is more than cricket because of it's culture, decorum and amazing crowd. I look forward to the day where more & more talented players from Nepal will feature in county. #2FIVE pic.twitter.com/jDc7G6YVWM

— Sandeep Lamichhane (@Sandeep25) March 25, 2021

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