IPL 2018 | Sandeep Lamichhane admits to have learnt a lot of things from IPL

Sandeep Lamichhane’s debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore will be remembered as a history for a long time - the first player from Nepal to feature in a high profile tournament like IPL. Despite Bangalore’s convincing win over Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla yesterday, the young man pleased everyone with his quality leg spin and finished his quota with 25 runs and 1 one wicket of Parthiv Patel. Speaking on his IPL debut, Lamichhane expressed his happiness and gave credit to the captain and coach for selecting him in the side. 

“We had a meeting yesterday and I got to know that I will be playing. It was the decision of the captain and the coach. It has been wonderful, I played well today,” said Lamichhane after the game, reported PTI.

He showed no nerves in the first spell when Shreyas Iyer handed him the new ball in the first over that too against two left-handers - Moeen Ali and Parthiv Patel. Lamichanne bowled exceptionally well in that spell and finished with just 7 runs from his 2 overs. Interestingly, it was also the first time he was bowling with the new ball in his still-short professional career.

“To be honest, I have never opened the bowling before. This was the first time. I have never done it international cricket as well. I was very excited about it. If you get a chance to play against a good team like RCB against good batsmen, I was really excited. I worked hard yesterday with the new ball as well,” the Nepal spinner said.

Lamichanne, who will end the IPL journey for this year after just two more games, has described the significance of his stint with Delhi Daredevils and feels lucky to be part of the franchise. The young boy realizes, these chances never come easily so he must carry on his hard work for achieving success at the stage as big as this.

“It has been very good, this one and a half months here. The most important thing is how you are learning all the time. I have learned a lot of things. We have got an exceptional coach and a good captain. All the players are very good. I have been very lucky so far. These moments never come very easily. I think I still have a long way to go and I have to do a lot of hard work,” observed Lamichhane.

The teenager also pinpointed the importance of the IPL, as it helped him attain the limelight compared to other leagues as soon as Delhi bought him at the auction.

“These kinds of leagues (IPL) can help you grow your game,” opined Lamichhane. “You have to stay busy with cricket. I am playing for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (in the Caribbean Premier League). There is a lot of talent in Nepal. I think the journey has been started. There will be a lot of opportunities for the players in Nepal.”

Lamichhane had been spotted by Michael Clarke, the former Australia captain, in a Twenty20 game in Hong Kong, and since then both of them have shared a close bond. Lamichhane said he regularly exchanged notes with Clarke.

“We are so close. We spoke to each other and he said I have done a great job today. I am upset because the most important thing is the team’s win. If your team is not winning then you must be upset.”

“They all are fantastic guys, both Ponting and Gambhir. But It’s always easy to get in touch with your age group guys like Prithvi (Shaw), Manjot (Kalra), Rishabh (Pant), Abhishek (Sharma) and the others, they are of my age group. It’s always easy when you are interacting with them because I know them for the last two years. It was great to see Abhishek, the way he was hitting (the ball) and enjoying himself,” concluded the young boy.