Former Nepali cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane. File
| Photo Credit: AFP
Nepal’s cricket physique on Thursday suspended former captain and star participant Sandeep Lamichhane, a day after he was sentenced to eight years in jail for rape.
Lamichhane, 23, was as soon as the poster boy for cricket in Nepal and the leg-spinner’s on-field success had boosted the game’s profile within the Himalayan republic.
In 2022, he was accused of raping a younger lady in a Kathmandu resort however was freed on bail and returned to the squad to compete in worldwide tournaments.
“We inform you that Sandeep Lamichhane has been suspended from any kind of domestic and international cricket activities as he has been convicted and sentenced,” Cricket Association of Nepal president Chatur Bahadur Chand mentioned in an announcement.
Lamichhane will not be in custody and was not in court docket for Wednesday’s sentencing.
His lawyer, Saroj Ghimire, informed AFP he “will appeal the decision” in the next court docket.
The rape survivor had mentioned she was a minor on the time of the crime, however in a earlier ruling the court docket mentioned she was 18.
Lamichhane was convicted of rape in December after a repeatedly delayed trial that had left him free to proceed his sporting profession.
When authorities issued an arrest warrant in September 2022, Lamichhane initially did not return from Jamaica, the place he was taking part in within the Caribbean Premier League.
He was dismissed as nationwide captain and arrested, however Nepal lifted his taking part in ban after he was freed on bail.
This allowed him to stay on the nationwide group, together with for the World Cup qualifiers and the 2023 Asia Cup.
Cricket doesn’t get pleasure from the identical adulation in mountainous Nepal because it does elsewhere in South Asia.
But the game has been rising in reputation, with Nepal given one-day worldwide standing by the world governing physique in 2018.
Lamichhane was a serious a part of this rise as essentially the most sought-after Nepali cricketer in profitable T20 franchise leagues around the globe.
His large break got here when he was snapped up for the Indian Premier League, the world’s richest cricket event, in 2018.
