Sandeep Lamichhane Denied US Visa, Likely to Miss T20 World Cup 2024
Kathmandu: Nepal spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has reportedly been denied visa to travel to the United States of America and will probably miss the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 in June. Lamichhane, who was accused of rape in 2022, was cleared of all his charges by the Patan High Court. After his charges were removed, Nepal Cricket Board included his name in the squad to represent the country in the mega event for the first time in the country’s history.
Lamichhane was suspended from both international and domestic cricket after he was accused of rape but once cleared, he was allowed to play. In a tweet Lamichhane expressed that he was not granted a visa to attend the T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies by the US Embassy in Nepal. The spinner also brought up an instance in which he was refused a visa for the CPL.
In 2019, he was also denied by the US Embassy to take part in the Caribbean Premier League but was eventually able to obtain a requisite visa.
Nepal will play two of their four group stage games in the T20 World Cup Group D in Netherland and Sri Lanka in Texas and Florida respectively. They announced their World Cup squad in May with star batting allrounder Rohit Paudel named captain to lead the 15-member squad.
Nepal squad: Rohit Paudel (c), 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