Sandeep Lamichhane, the mainstay of the Nepali national cricket team of late, has been a wonderful find by the former coach Pubudu Dassanayake.

Impressed by his potential while on his visit to Chitwan, Dassanayake brought the kid to Kathmandu and nurtured him. The leg spinner did not disappoint the coach as he immediately broke into the U-19 squad. In January-February last year, the 16-year old played a key role in leading Nepal to their first ever quarter-finals in the ICC U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh. Lamichhane ended up as tournament’s second highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps.

He also took a hat-trick in his five-wicket haul against Ireland. It was also fifth hat-trick in U-19 World Cup history. Lamichhane was likened to Australian legendary leg spinner Shane Warne and his videos of sharp-turning deliveries during the World Cup went viral in social media. The U-19 World Cup was his first international tournament before he impressed agains in Nepal’s ICC World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) matches against Namibia in Kathmandu in April. The match against Namibia was his debut for senior team.

He also had an opportunity to play alongside former Australia skipper Michael Clarke in the Hong Kong Blitz Twenty20 for Kowloon Cantons, a three-day event held on May 27-29. Impressed with his bowling skills, Clarke has offered Lamichhane a chance to play for his academy team—Michael Clarke Cricket Academy—in Sydney. He also represented Nepal in their historical game at Lord’s against Marylebone Cricket Club on Tuesday. 

To add to his meteoric rise, Lamichhane has been nominated as one of the five nominees for the prestigious Pulsar Sports Award slated for Thursday. Lamichhane will contest for the People’s Choice award with women national team spiker Prativa Mali, table tennis player Nabita Shrestha, weightlifter Tara Devi Pun and footballer Nawayug Shrestha. The award is decided through SMS voting and Facebook likes.

NSJF annually recognizes the sports personalities with awards in eight categories, evaluating on their achievements over the past one year. It had also announced five nominees each in the male, female, youth and coach of the year awards. The winners of lifetime achievement, special and para-athlete of the year award will be declared directly during the award function on Thursday.