Lamichhane made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut against the West Indies, where he represented a World XI side. He became the first cricketer to make a T20 international debut representing a combined team.[10] Lamichhane was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Nepal's first One Day International (ODI) match, against the Netherlands, in August 2018. In December 2021, Lamichhane was named the captain of Nepal national cricket team by Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), replacing Gyanendra Malla.[11]
On 8 September 2022, Lamichhane was removed as captain after he was accused of rape by a minor.[12] Later, the Supreme Court of Nepal allowed him to continue to play as part of the Nepali national cricket team as per the request of CAN, citing "no person is guilty unless proven". In December 2023, the KathmanduDistrict Court convicted him of rape, although the court decided that the victim was not a minor at the time of the incident.[13] In January 2024, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.[14]
Early and personal life
Lamichhane was born on 2 August 2000 in Aruchaur, Syangja, Gandaki Province. During his childhood, he considered Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Australian bowler Shane Warne as his cricketing idols.[15] He moved to Chitwan district and started training at Chitwan Cricket Academy, which is run by former captain Raju Khadka.[16] During a visit by the captain, Paras Khadka, and coach of Nepal Pubudu Dasanayake, Lamichhane was asked to bowl in the nets and was selected for the national under-19 training camp. It was Dasanayake who first spotted Lamichhane's talent when he was a 14 year old.[17]
Lamichhane is also a singer and uploads his songs and music videos on his YouTube channel.[18] In July 2018, Lamichhane released his first song Udash thiyo from the album Pratikshya - The waiting.[19][20][21]
He finished the tournament as second highest wicket taker with 14 wickets at an average of 17.07 and a strike rate of 21.9.[26]
He was recruited by former English-born Hong Kong cricketer Scott McKechnie to play for the Kowloon Cantons franchise in the inaugural edition of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz on 2016.[27] Scott was impressed with the youngster's performance during the MCC tour of Nepal in November 2016 where Scott himself was undone by his spin twice in the same match and it prompted Scott McKechnie to scout for Lamichhane for the 2016 Hong Kong Blitz competition.[28][29] Lamichhane ended up picking seven wickets in the three matches against the touring Marleybone Cricket Club.[30]
The Hong Kong T20 Blitz in fact, went onto become a breakout tournament for Lamichhane himself and it ultimately turned out to be meteoric rise for him in his young days as he was discovered for his bowling display and even went onto share dressing room with World Cup winning captain Michael Clarke during the course of the tournament.[31][32]
In May 2018, Lamichhane made his senior Twenty20 debut for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, becoming the first Nepalese cricketer to play in the IPL.[36] He took a wicket for 25 runs on his debut match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.[41] In the tournament, he took five wickets in three matches with a bowling average of 16.40.
In June 2018, Lamichane was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.[42][43] In the tournament he took eight wickets in five matches at an average of 19.62.[44] In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament,[45] going on to play in one match in the tournament.
In January 2018, Lamichhane was named in Nepal's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament.[61] In their opening match against Namibia, he was adjudged man of the match with bowling figures of 4/18 in 8.2 overs.[62] He also shared a crucial final wicket partnership of 18 runs with Basanta Regmi to win the match by one wicket.[63] In the third match against the United Arab Emirates, he took 3/30 to help reduce the opponent to 114 runs.[64] In the fourth match against Kenya, he took his first five wicket haul in List A cricket, with 5/20, and was again named the man of the match.[65]
Lamichhane was awarded with ICC World Cricket League Division Two Player of the tournament award as a result of his economical bowling and took the most wickets in the tournament, taking 17 wickets in six matches.[66]
In February 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Lamichhane as one of the ten players to watch ahead of the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament.[67] Following the conclusion of the tournament, the ICC went on to name Lamichhane as the rising star of Nepal's squad.[68][69]
In July 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad for their ODI series against the Netherlands.[72] These were Nepal's first ODI matches after gaining ODI status during the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.[73] Ahead of the matches, the ICC named him as the key player for Nepal.[74] He made his T20I debut for Nepal in July in the third match of the 2018 MCC Tri-Nation Series, against the Netherlands.[75] He made his ODI debut for Nepal against the Netherlands on 1 August 2018.[76]
In August 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad for the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier tournament.[77] In October 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad in the Eastern sub-region group for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier tournament.[78] He was the leading wicket-taker during the tournament, with 24 dismissals in six matches.[79][80]
In October 2023, he decided to rest for the Nepal Tri-nation T20I tournament hosted by Nepal, citing personal reasons, as per the secretary of CAN Paras Khadka.[95]
Rape allegations and conviction
A police complaint was filed by an alleged minor on 6 September 2022, accusing Lamichhane of raping her on the night of 21 August in a hotel room in Kathmandu. Police confirmed that the CCTV footage from the hotel revealed that Lamichhane had stayed the night with the girl.[96] On 8 September, Kathmandu District Court authorised the arrest of Lamichhane for further investigation.[97] At the time that the arrest warrant was issued, Lamichhane was due to take part in the 2022 Caribbean Premier League representing Jamaica Tallawahs.[98] Soon after news broke of the rape allegations, he was released from the Caribbean Premier League but denied any wrongdoing.[99][100] Consequently, Nepal's cricket governing body, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) suspended Lamichhane from the national team.[3] Police in Nepal issued a diffusion notice through Interpol against Lamichhane.[101] As a result of the notice, Lamichhane was added to the Interpol police fugitive list.[101]
Lamichhane turned himself in to the Nepal Police on 6 October 2022[102] and was taken into custody.[103] After four days, Lamichhane was remanded into custody for seven days to let the police continue the investigation, subsequently followed by an extension of a further 11 days.[104]
Responding to a review petition filed by Lamichhane, a joint bench of judges Dhruva Raj Nanda and Ramesh Dahal from the Patan High Court, on 2 January 2023, ordered his release on bail of Rs. 2 million. On 29 December 2023, the Kathmandu District Court, presided over by Judge Shishir Raj Dhakal, convicted Lamichhane of raping the girl, referred to as 'Gaushala 26', by taking advantage of her financial condition. His BBL and other T20 tournament licences and visa were immediately suspended. The court mandated a separate hearing to determine the duration of imprisonment, as well as any fines or compensation that may be imposed, set for 10 January 2024. The court, however, determined that the girl Lamichhane raped was not a minor.[105]
On 10 January 2024, Lamichhane was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined Rs 300,000 in addition to Rs 200,000 in damages to the victim.[106][107][108]
Records and Milestones
ODI
Fastest to 100 ODI wickets in terms of innings- 42 innings[109]
2nd fastest to 50 ODI wickets in terms of innings- 22 innings[110]