Nepal’s cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane still has a chance to join Nepal’s squad in the United States and the West Indies for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup if he obtains a visa from the United States.

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has submitted the list of only 14 players to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the World Cup, leaving one slot for leg spinner Lamichhane.

All 20 participating teams had a May 25 deadline to submit their 15-man squad for the World Cup, including change in the provisional 15-member squad.

“We have sent a list of only 14 players to the ICC for now because we still hope Lamichhane will get a visa from the US Embassy,” CAN President Chatur Bahadur Chand told the Post.

Last week, the US Embassy in Nepal denied a visa to Lamichhane which has jeopardised his hopes to participate in the World Cup.

Lamichhane was cleared to participate in domestic and international cricket tournaments by the country’s cricket governing body, hours after the Patan High Court acquited him of rape on appeal.

CAN had suspended Lamichhane from both domestic and international cricket after initially being found guilty of raping a girl.

Nepal had already announced their provisional squad for the World Cup when Lamichhane’s rape conviction was quashed.

“The ICC has already approved our request to include Lamichhane in the final 15-member World Cup squad,” Chand added. “If Lamichhane receives a visa in a few days, he will be included in the squad.”

CAN will required approval from ICC’s event technical committee to make changes in Nepal’s squad.

However, CAN has not yet revealed the name of the player who was not included in the list of the 14 players submitted to the ICC.

If Lamichhane does not get a US visa, the 15 players currently in the team will play the World Cup, according to Chand.

“We have requested the government to clarify the situation regarding Lamichhane to the US Embassy and make the environment favourable to Lamichhane,” Chand further said. “We hope he gets a visa because it is what our cricket fans want.”

Nepal, drawn in Group D, begin their T20 World Cup against the Netherlands on June 4 in Dallas, followed by group matches against Sri Lanka on June 12, South Africa on June 15 and Bangladesh on June 17.

Nepal are making only their second appearance at a cricket World Cup—their first since World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014.

The US will host 16 group games in three venues—Florida, Texas and New York, while the rest of the tournament including the Super Eight stage, semi-finals and the final will be held in the West Indies.