Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was initially not a part of the long-list of 1122 players who had entered the Indian Premier League auction in 2018. He was, however, later included among the 578 players who eventually went under the hammer.
The 18-year-old made history on January 28, 2018 when he became the first cricketer from Nepal to sign for an IPL team. Lamichhane was bought by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), coached by Ricky Ponting, for his base price of ₹20 lakh.
Lamichhane first made an impact at the U-19 World Cup in 2016, where he claimed a hat-trick in Nepal’s defeat of Ireland. Later that year, while taking part in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, he made a deep impression on former Australia captain Michael Clarke, who invited the bowler to train under him and play grade cricket in Sydney.
Delhi Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua had said how Lamichhane had managed to impress everyone at the trials.
Coming into 2019, Lamichhane played his first match against Kolkata Knight Riders conceding 29 runs and taking the wicket of debutant Nikhil Naik.
In his second match, which is still ongoing, he has sent back the dangerous Sam Curran and Sarfaraz Khan back to the pavilion.
While Sam Curran was out leg before, Sarfraz, who stitched together a vital 62-run fourth wicket partnership with David Miller, has been caught behind. He just leaked 27 runs in the process though, maintaining an excellent economy of 6.75 .
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