IPL Auction 2018: Meet Sandeep Lamichhane, Nepal’s first cricketer to play IPL

This certainly happens to be an inspiring story, especially coming from Nepal. Sandeep will inspire many Nepalese youngsters to take to the game

By: Ankit Banerjee |
January 28, 2018 2:08 pm

And finally, we have a Nepalese cricketer who will play the Indian Premier League 2018!

Remember the name, it is Sandeep Lamichhane! So who is he? The 20-year-old leg-spinner created history by becoming the first cricketer from his country to do so. The Syangja-born lad was at a base price of Rs 20 lakh and Delhi Daredevils picked him up for the same.

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So what do you know of him?

He is a fan of the legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne fan who shot to limelight when he picked up a hat-trick in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2016 match against Ireland. He finished with figures of 5-27, helping his side win by 8 wickets. He finished the tournament as the second highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps. Not bad for a youngster from Nepal, which is not known to be a cricket bastion.

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Early days: Sandeep moved to India as a child as his father was worked in the Indian Railways. After completing his 4th standard, he went back to his homeland but little did he know that the three years spent in India would be the turning point of his career. During his brief stay in India, he got the opportunity to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat and instantly became a huge fan of him.

2GoodNewsin2Days
A day after Nepali football star Bimal Gharti Magar signed for Indian club Mohun Bagan, another Nepali teenager Sandeep Lamichhane has made it to @IPL #SandeepLamichhane #BimalGhartiMagar #football #cricket

— Thira L. Bhusal (@ThiraLalBhusal) January 28, 2018

Speaking to Sportskeeda, he said.

“I used to watch Sachin Tendulkar and the whole Indian team play. In fact, I am a big fan of them. It was during my time in India that I got an interest in sport and my first thought was I want to play this and represent my country in it. Since then, I have been working on it and now, I can proudly say that I have realized my childhood dream. Initially, I got a little support from my family when it came to cricket and now, they are backing me to do well. My brother and sister used to help me play the sport back home,”

Maybe God gifted that art to me and I worked on it. When I was young, I used to follow Shane Warne (on TV and his videos on a mobile phone) and fantasized about the way he bowls. I used to watch him bowl leg spin and googlies and practice them in the nets. I can bowl googlies very well, front flippers and yeah, the leg spinners. If my teammates want something else from me, I will work on that. So far, I am doing well. I have some good very variations up my sleeve. The learning period is never over for a player. I need to improve with every passing day. If I do well today, I have to forget it and concentrate on doing well the next day. This is something that I always want to do.“

This certainly happens to be an inspiring story, especially coming from Nepal. Sandeep will inspire many Nepalese youngsters to take to the game.