When Michael Clarke wanted Sandeep Lamichhane to play for Australia

Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane’s meteoric rise amongst the big boys of cricket has been an inspirational journey thus far. Even as Nepal is still finding its feet at the highest level, the 19-year-old tweaker from Syangja has taken rapid strides. The Young Turk has the talent to the extent that he once caught former Australian captain Michael Clarke’s eyes.

Clarke, the 2015 World Cup-winning captain, was impressed with Lamicchanne and even wanted him to play for Australia. It was during a T20 tournament in Hong Kong. The revelations were made by Tim Cutler, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hong Kong Cricket.

“When Clarke saw Lamichhane bowl for the first time during a T20 League in Hong Kong, his initial reaction was to take (migrate) the youngster to Australia and put him in the scheme of things of the national team,” Cutler was quoted as saying in Cricket Podcast – Hit & Miss.

Sandeep Lamichhane weaving magic

Lamichhane has quite a bit of experience of playing in Australia. During his stint with the Melbourne Stars, the youngster showed his potential to shine even on pitches, which aren’t conducive to spin bowling. The Stars picked him in the 2018-19 season and he has been with them ever since.

In 20 matches in the Big Bash League (BBL), Sandeep has picked up 26 wickets at an economy of 7.27. His best figures of 3/11 came against the Sydney Sixers in the 2018-19 season. He has formed a lethal pair along with Adam Zampa and has troubled the best in the business.

Back in 2018, Sandeep also became the first player for Nepal to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was roped in by the Delhi Daredevils, now Capitals, captained by Shreyas Iyer. After how he has performed, the IPL franchise retained him even for the next season.

He has also played in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Global T20 Canada (GT20). For Nepal, the leggie has plied his trade in 10 ODIs and 21 T20Is in which he picked up 23 and 34 wickets respectively.

Having already picked 173 wickets from 109 matches until now Sandeep is expected to have a bright future in the offing.