Former captain Sandeep Lamichhane, who was suspended for three and a half months after being accused of rape, has been included in the national cricket team.
The board meeting of the Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) decided to lift Sandeep’s suspension on Wednesday.
The right to return to the national team was given to the player selection committee. The chief selector of cricket, Dipendra Chaudhary, told Online Khabar that seeing the need for Sandeep in the team, he has decided to include him in the team for the upcoming four one-day international matches to be held in Nepal.
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Sandeep is the cricketer in our plans. We have asked him to participate in the camp from this evening,” Chowdhury said, “Nobody will doubt Sandeep’s ability. Fitness and physio must be watched.’
With the selection committee’s decision to include him in the team, Sandeep met and talked with the head coach Monty Desai on Thursday. And he has reached Kirtipur along with some players to practice.
As Thursday is the ‘rest day’ of the national team, his fitness test will be conducted only on Friday. Although it was a ‘rest day’, some players trained in Kirtipur, including Sandeep.
‘He will start regular training after the report of the fitness trainer and physio is positive,’ said Vinod Das, Cricket Manager of CAN.
Sandeep was arrested by the police on October 20 after being accused of raping a minor. The very next day, Can suspend him from the national team. Sandeep was released on bail on November 29 after the order of the High Court, which filed a petition against the order of the Kathmandu District Court to keep him in pre-trial detention.
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Even though he has been charged with a heinous crime and the case is pending in court, Can has not only lifted his suspension but included him in the national team.
Nepal is playing a triangular series with Namibia and Scotland under the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two. This series will start on February 14th.
