On September 24, Nepal smiled to a photo that captured its new spin prodigy Sandeep Lamichhane with Australia’s 2015 World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke. The photo, published in a popular Australian cricket portal, www.cricket.com.au, pictures the 16-year old sharing a light moment with Clarke’s

arm around his neck. The snap

indicates Lamichhane was responding to his cleverness spotted by the Aussie legend.

The photo, captured during an Australian Grade cricket match at the Allan Border Oval in Sydney, pictures the two cricketers of

contrasting stature, playing for Clarke’s home club, Western Suburbs, against Mosman. Western Suburbs, known as the Magpies, went on to win the 50-over game by six wickets with Clarke making 99 not out and Lamichhane snaring 1-17 from eight overs.

But more than the game and its stats, it was a picture that brought smiles to the Nepali cricketing

family after watching a school kid rub shoulders with a captain that won the latest cricket World Cup. Clarke has been lauded for taking the initiative to invite Lamichhane to hone his skills in Australia, a country that offers cricketing

culture in abundance.

The picture also reinforced the notion of how talent is

respected when a country or an individual is serious about its sports. And most importantly, the photo made Lamichhane unfurling Nepal’s flag in Australia through cricket a stepping stone that paves way for other talented youngsters itching to make it big at the international stage.

Less than a year ago, Lamichhane was an ordinary school boy who idolised Shane Warne—imitating the legendary Australian leg

spinner at Campachaur in Chitwan, miles away from Kathmandu. During the euphoria of an

impressive ICC World Twenty20 appearance, Nepal didn’t even know someone named Sandeep Lamichhane existed, except

for those who knew him

personally and saw him playing the game in his hometown. He

was spotted by the then

coach Pubudu Dassanayake

when the Sri Lanka-born Canadian had set out on an unofficial talent hunt in few cities in the Western regions of the country.

Brought to Kathmandu to bowl

in the nets at the TU Stadium’s

practice pitches, Lamichhane

was groomed under Dassanayake’s

tutelage, and his mind, already occupied by the game, sharpened with more game sense. Having

fostered an ability to turn the bowl with variations, Lamicchane was called to the youth squad for the 2016 ICC U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh.

U-19 World Cup was a platform where he proved himself as a spin wizard that was soon going to take the world by storm. And he did as expected. Highly impressive with his turn and variations, Lamichhane was dubbed “Nepali Shane Warne” by the BBC at the tournament.

Lamichhane lived up to mid-tournament expectations ending up as the second highest wicket taker with 14 scalps in the U-19 World Cup, a rare feat for non-Test

playing cricketer. Lamichhane also became only the fifth bowler in U-19 World Cup history to take a

hat-trick, in a spell of guile and trickery against Ireland.

Nepal’s assured performance at the ICC World Twenty20 captivated the entire nation, exited about

competing at the global stage for the first time. That maiden appearance gave every single youth a reason to dream that building a cricketing career might after all earn them both fame and money. But with the cricketing administration in the country in a deadlock due to

internal crises, those aspirations, so far, have remained only a far cry.

However, Lamichhane’s

disarming moment of joy with Clarke, captured by the photo, underscores that even during these times of despair talent will find its way. “Sandeep has a lot of talent, there’s no doubt about it, but

I think he offers a hell of a lot more than that, and I think that’s

why I’ve done whatever I could

to try and get him to Sydney,” Clarke had told cricket.com.au in a video interview.

But Lamichhane alone is not Nepali cricket’s only fairytale. Since Nepal burst onto the

international stage, it has time

and again surprised the world with its stunning victories over Test giants in different editions of U-19 World Cups. For decades, the

country has boasted a store of young talents who have come and gone in want  of grooming that would have propelled them to

cricketing limelight.

If Nepal is currently taking pride in Lamichhane’s bamboozling

deliveries, there are Lamichhanes with the bat at different alleys and corners of the country as well. But considering how the country’s

cricket is struggling in terms of administration, courtesy of the acute lack of vision and governance, they, perhaps, don’t

have any other option than to wait for another Michael Clarke to tap their talent.