Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has been excluded from the national squad that is set to travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a triangular series of the ICC World Cup League 2 that involves Papua New Guinea and Nepal, apart from the hosts UAE.

The Nepal team is scheduled to fly to UAE on Saturday for the series to be played from February 27 to March 6.

Lamichhane, accused of raping a minor on August 21 last year and released on bail by the Patan High Court on January 13, has been excluded due to a travel ban imposed by the high court. The high court had set conditions that he would not be allowed to leave Kathmandu without prior approval.

According to the name list of players obtained by the Post but yet to be disclosed by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), the 22-year-old Lamichhane and Surya Tamang are the missing names from the Nepali squad from the team that recently played Nepal-Namibia-Scotland triangular series at the TU ground in Kirtipur.

Lamichhane played an influential role in the tournament with a total haul of 13-wickets in four matches which saw the home team sweep League 2 series for the first time. Nepal won two games each against Namibia and Scotland in the event held from February 14 to 21.

While Nepal had announced a 14-member squad for the series at home, they registered 15 players in the registration form for the UAE series. Aarif Sheikh has retained his place in the national team, while Pratish GC and Shyam Dhakal (Mousam Dhakal) have made it into the Nepal squad for the first time. All of them were in the list of reserved players in the Nepal Tri Series.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal bade farewell to the team at the prime minister’s residence at Baluwatar and also announced cash incentives of Rs200,000 each to all members of the national squad that played the Nepal-Namibia-Scotland triangular series. Lamichhane also visited the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar with the team.

Devendra Prajoo is the manager of the team that will be accompanied by six officials, including coach Montey Desai and physiotherapist Vikram Nyaupane.

Nepali Squad

Rohit Kumar Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gyanendra Malla, Aasif Sheikh, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharki, Sundeep Jora, Kushal Malla, Shyam (Mousam) Dhakal, Gulshan Jha, Aarif Sheikh and Pratish GC.