Sandeep Lamichhane denied US visa for T20 World Cup 2024

Former captain of Nepal cricket team Sandeep Lamichhane has been denied visa for United States to participate in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

In a post on X, the leg-spinner said that he was denied a US visa for the T20 World Cup jointly hosted by the US and West Indies.

“And the US Embassy in Nepal 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,” he wrote in a post on X.

Lamichhane was expected to join the Nepal squad after he was acquitted of rape charges by a court in his country.

It is pertinent to mention that Sandeep Lamichhane in the past encountered a similar situation when he faced difficulty obtaining a US visa in 2019, for transit to the CPL.

He was later issued the visa to transit through the country to West Indies.

In January this year, a court in Nepal sentenced him to eight years in jail after he was convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman.

The leg-spinner was suspended as Nepal’s captain and taken into custody after police issued an arrest warrant for him over the assault in 2022, and was later released on bail.

His sentence in the rape charges was overturned earlier this month paving the way for him to play in the T20 World Cup 2024.

Following his acquittal, local media outlets began reporting that Sandeep Lamichhane is likely to join Nepal’s squad for the T20 World Cup.

It is pertinent to mention that teams are allowed to make changes to their provisional squads till May 25 which opened a door for Nepal to include the 23-year-old in the squad.