IPL Auction 2021: Nepali Fans Sweat on Sandeep’s Fate
Young leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane is the first and the only Nepali cricketer to play in multiple foreign franchise leagues including the Indian Premier League.
Lamichhane was first picked up by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) for the base price of 20 lakhs INR back in 2018. This brought joy among the Nepali cricket fans around the world. Sandeep Lamichhane’s inclusion in the league lured more Nepalese towards the Indian Premier League.
After his selection in the team, all the fans were waiting for him to get a chance in the league. And finally the day arrived and Lamichhane was handed his debut for Delhi in the IPL against Royal Challengers Bangalore. In that match, he grabbed a wicket in the expense of 25 runs. After that, Lamichhane played another couple of matches and grabbed 4 more wickets.
Lamichhane’s performance in last three matches of the previous season made Delhi to retain him for the other season as well. However, Lamichhane merely got chances in the following season as well. In IPL 2019, he played in 6 matches and grabbed 8 wickets. The most tragic part of Lamichhane’s 3 years stint at Delhi was, he wasn’t given a single start in IPL 2020. Subsequently, Lamichhane was released by Delhi based franchise and is now available for Auction for the fresh new season.
The auction for IPL 2021 is all set to held on February 18 in Chennai. The auction will start from 3:15 pm Nepali time. You can watch it live here.
With merely 22 slots available for foreign quota among the eight franchises, we can’t be sure that Lamichhane will be playing in consecutive four seasons of IPL. There has been several rumors suggesting Mumbai Indians’ interest on Nepali international. However, nothing can be said till now.
Kings XI Punjab has the maximum number of slots available for foreign player (5) and they have released spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Therefore, Punjab might seek for a spinner and with Maxwell in the team, Sandeep Lamichhane can be their choice.
Sandeep Lamichhane has established himself as one of the best associated spinner and he has proved it in many other franchise leagues like Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League and many more. But he is yet to be first choice bowler in IPL. Therefore, Nepali fans will be hoping for at least a team to make a bid for Sandeep Lamichhane in the auction.
