Sandeep Lamichhane denied US visa ahead of T20 World Cup 2024

Nepal’s star spinner, Sandeep Lamichhane, has revealed that he has been denied a United States (US) visa, jeopardizing his participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled to take place in the USA and West Indies next month.

Earlier this month, Lamichhane was given a clean chit in a high-profile rape case by the Patan High Court. The court overturned the Kathmandu District Court's previous verdict, which had sentenced the 23-year-old to eight years in prison due to a lack of evidence. 

Following the high court's decision, Cricket Nepal president Chatur Bahadur confirmed their intent to include Lamichhane in Nepal’s squad for their first-ever World Cup appearance.

"He has been set free by the law, and we are happy for him. He was sentenced to jail by the lower courts, but today the high court set him free. We have removed the suspension as well, and we have time until the 25th to include him in the World Cup squad," Nepal board president Bahdur said.

However, Lamichhane took to his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday to announce that the US Embassy in Nepal had denied his visa, echoing a similar incident from 2019. In his post, he expressed his disappointment and apologized to his fans in Nepal.

“And the @USEmbassyNepal did it again what they did back in 2019, they denied my Visa for the T-20 World Cup happening in the USA and West Indies. Unfortunate. I am sorry to all the well-wishers of Nepal Cricket. @USAmbNepal @CricketNep,” Lamichhane posted on X.

Nepal's first match in the mega-event tournament is scheduled to take place on June 4 against The Netherlands in Texas. 

Nepal squad: Rohit Paudel (c), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee