A Nepal high court acquitted suspended international cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane of rape on Wednesday (May 15, 2024). Overturning the Kathmandu district court's verdict to hand Lamichhane an eight-year jail term, a division bench of judges cited lack of evidence as the reason for acquittal. (Full IPL Coverage | More Cricket News)
This means that the 23-year-old will be available to compete at June's ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. Nepal have already announced their 15-member squad for the World Cup with Rohit Paudel as the skipper, but the ICC's rulebook allows teams to make changes to their squad until May 25, and Lamichhane is likely to be selected.
In December 2023, the former Nepal captain was found guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman and on January 10 sentenced to eight years in prison. He was also slapped with a fine of Rs 300,000 and ordered to pay Rs 200,000 in compensation to the alleged survivor.
A day later, Nepal's cricket body had suspended Lamichhane from all forms of cricket. He was arrested in Kathmandu and released from custody on January 13. Meanwhile, Lamichhane had appealed the district court decision, moving the high court. The door to play the T20 World Cup has now opened up for him, with the court's ruling.
The leg-spinner has represented Nepal in 52 T20Is and picked up 98 wickets to boot. The Nepal national team will open its T20 World Cup campaign against The Netherlands on June 4 in Dallas.
