7 Interesting facts about Sandeep Lamichhane - Nepal's Shane Warne

The wrist spinners’ dominance in the limited overs has shown the results recently as the T20 franchises shown interest in roping leg-spinners irrespective of their country. The 17-year-old Sandeep Lamichhane could be benefited by his bowling style in a couple of days when he will be going under the hammer during the IPL Player Auction on 27th and 28th January. The leg-spinner from Nepal could well become the first player from his country to represent a big franchise if he bags a bid.

Here are some of the facts about the Nepal spinner Sandeep Lamichhane:

1. Birth and Career:

Sandeep Lamichhane was born on 2nd August 2000 in Nepal’s Syangja. He is a right-handed batsman and a leg-spinner. He made his debut for Nepal International team in 2016 and featured in nine List A matches thus far becoming a crucial part of the team.

2. Idolizes Shane Warne:

Lamichhane’s bowling action is similar to that of Shane Warne’s action. The Nepalese spinner once said that his cricketing idol is none other than Shane Warne.

3. Hat-trick in Under-19 World Cup:

Lamichhane created history for Nepal by bagging a hat-trick in the Under-19 World Cup against Ireland in 2016 to become only the 5th player to achieve the feat. He is also the only player from Nepal and one of the 12 players to take a hat-trick in Youth ODIs.

4. Record breaking Under-19 World Cup:

In the 2016 U19 CWC, Lamichhane took 14 wickets in only six matches to stand as the 2nd highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He also equalled Nepal record for most wickets in a U19 CWC edition. The leg-spinner recorded his best figures of 5/27 against Ireland in which he took a hat-trick.

5. Impressed Michael Clarke in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz:

Lamichhane fell in the eyes of former Australian skipper Michael Clarke, who made a comeback to the sport in 2016 by featuring in the inaugural edition of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz. Both of them represented the Kowloon Cantons side in the tournament that was affected by rain.

6. Training in Australia:

Impressed by Lamichhane, Clarke sent an invitation to him for representing the Sydney-based club Western Suburbs in the Australian grade cricket.

“Sandeep is a fantastic young man who enjoys his cricket and is extremely passionate about the game. It is a really exciting opportunity to have such a talented Nepalese cricketer travel this distance to come and test his skills and improve his game at my academy,” said Clarke.

7. Named in the IPL player auction:

Lamichhane has been named in the IPL player auction list with a base price of 20 lakhs. He is one the two players from associate nations to be on the list of 578 players to be auctioned for the 11th season of IPL.