Sandeep Lamichhane hopes to play in The Hundred after visa delay causes him to miss T20 Blast

Lamichhane's T20 Blast deal was canceled due to visa and passport issues.

Sandeep Lamichhane ruled out of T20 Blast because of visa and passport issues | AFP

Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane is hoping to fulfill his stint with the Oval Invincibles in the inaugural edition of The Hundred beginning on July 21 after being forced to cancel his contract in the Vitality T20 Blast due to an extended delay to visa approval and passport issues.

Lamichhane was signed up by Worcestershire for the Vitality T20 Blast, starting on June 9, but he wasn’t granted the UK visa in time, which led him to be out of the T20 competition in England.

It is being said that the administrative issues caused by a COVID-related backlog and delay in his application were the reason behind the delay in getting the visa.

Well, the Nepal spinner’s visa for the UK has now been approved, according to ESPNCricinfo, but if the youngster travels now, then he will miss almost 8 games of the county side due to the quarantine requirements and other COVID-19 protocols for the competition in England.

Read Also: UK PM Boris Johnson supports comments that called ECB’s suspension of Robinson ‘over the top’

The given circumstances forced Worcestershire to release Lamichhane and sign New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi for this summer's T20 Blast.

However, the young star spinner is now expected to feature in The Hundred before traveling to the Caribbean to represent the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2021.

The 20-year-old cricketer and his agent are reportedly in contact with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to find out possible travel routes from Nepal, which is currently on UK's red list.

Noteworthy, he has the £60,000 deal with Oval Invincibles in the new format 100-ball tournament.

(With ANI/ESPNCricinfo Inputs)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 08 Jun, 2021

    Share Via