The young leg-spinner from Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane has become the first player from an associate nation to be a part of the Big Bash League (BBL) after signing a deal with the Melbourne Stars. The leggie is expected to be featured in the tournament in two parts. He is expected to join the squad by December 10, after which he will play the entire edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
As per the reports in ESPNCricinfo, Sandeep will come back to play the BBL in Down Under for the remainder of the matches. Earlier in 2017, Lamichhane was the first player from Nepal to be part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when Delhi Daredevils (DD) brought him in the auction for ₹20 Lakh. Expressing his delight over the selection, Sandeep said, “I am delighted to be joining the Stars, it has always been a dream to play on the MCG. I am very excited to join the team.”
Since then, Lamichanne has been part of many T20 leagues including the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) where he played for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. Lamichhane grabbed a lot of eyeballs for the first time when he became the second-highest wicket-taker at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016, with 14 wickets and with 5 for 27 against Ireland being his best.
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Melbourne Stars list manager Trent Woodhill also praised the youngster, he said, “Lamichhane had a successful IPL debut for Delhi and bowled well in the CPL. We have high expectations that he will light up the BBL and become a star of the tournament.”
Lamichhane had trained under the watchful eye of former Australian skipper Michael Clarke and has played grade cricket for Australia. The teenager played with Clarke in Hong Kong in 2016, before joining his mentor in Sydney Premier Cricket later that year. He played a crucial role in Nepal gaining ODI status for the first time.
Spinners have been dominating ever since the rise of the T20 franchise cricket and it is no surprise that Sandeep has joined the likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman who will also be part of the upcoming season of the BBL. Rashid played for Adelaide Strikers in the last season of BBL while Mujeeb has been signed by Brisbane Heat for this edition.
