Sports
Lahore Qalandar picks Lamichhane for PSL
Nepali leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane’s journey as a globetrotting cricketer took another chapter on Tuesday after the teen cricketer was picked for the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) through player’s draft in Islamabad.
Nepali leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane’s journey as a globetrotting cricketer took another chapter on Tuesday after the teen cricketer was picked for the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) through player’s draft in Islamabad.
Lamichhane was picked up by Lahore Qalandar franchise from the gold category and will now receive US$ 50,000 to US$ 70,000, the amount fixed in the category. PSL will be the sixth global franchise Twenty20 cricket appearance for Lamichhane after he began the journey with the 2018 Indian Premier League stint with Delhi Daredevils.
He is currently in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Dubai T10 Challenge – the newly-introduced shortest version of cricket. Lamichhane was sold for US$ 30,000 for his appearance in the T10 Challenge where he will play for Kerala Kings. The eight-team T10 Challenge is beginning from November 23 to December 2.
After an impressive IPL campaign where he took five wickets in the last three matches he played, Lamichhane followed it up with Global Challenge Twenty20 in Canada, Caribbean Premier League and Afghanistan Premier League (APL). He is also signed up by Australian Big Bash League Melbourne Stars for an amount close to US$ 60,000 and will concurrently play Bangladesh Premier League for Sylhet Sixers.
Another Nepali cricketer Sompal Kami meanwhile failed to lure the franchises. The fast bowling allrounder was listed in the silver category. Kami and national team skipper Paras Khadka were also in the players’ draft for APL but only Lamichhane managed to sneak in.
While the league rounds of the PSL will be played in the UAE, the playoffs and final will be held in Pakistan. The country is desperate to bring international sporting activities after it became a no-go zone following a terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers during a series in 2009. The final of the PSL last year was held in Pakistan.
PSL has been a global hit after it was launched in 2015. Top notch cricketers, except Indian players, compete in the tournament. Lamichhane’s teammates in Qalandars include South African AB de Villiers, West Indies cricketer Carlos Brathwaite, New Zealander Corey Anderson along with Pakistan quartet of Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi among big names.
Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators and the Sixth Team are other five competing sides in PSL. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had terminated the eight-year ownership rights of Multan Sultans after the franchise failed to pay their annual fee of US $5.2 million.
The PCB repossessed the ownership rights and are reselling the rights before the new season begins. Until a new franchise comes to join the League, the team is referred to as The Sixth Team.