Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane has been suspended from his team’s second and third T20 internationals against West Indies in Sharjah after withdrawing from the first match “45 minutes before the start.”
A statement from the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) noted that Lamichhane’s late withdrawal—15 minutes before the toss of the first T20I on September 27—had “a serious impact” on the team and Nepal cricket at large.
The board said the team management recommended that Lamichhane be benched from the remaining two games in the series.
It was later understood that Lamichhane withdrew because he was mentally “not in a good space to play the match.”
Nepal defeated West Indies in the first T20I by 19 runs, marking their first-ever victory against a Full Member nation, and won the second T20I by 90 runs to secure their first series win against a Full Member nation. They lost the third match—a dead rubber—by ten wickets.
Despite the suspension, Lamichhane has been retained in Nepal’s squad for their next assignment: the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia and East Asia Pacific Final in Oman. Nepal will compete with Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea for two places in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, scheduled for February and March 2026.
Nepal are in Group B alongside Japan and Kuwait, with matches on October 8 and 10. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Six round, and the top three teams from that stage will qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
