In a major administrative move on Monday, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) officially appointed star leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane as the new One Day International (ODI) captain of the national men's team, stripping Rohit Paudel of the 50-over leadership.

According to an official press release issued by CAN Secretary Paras Khadka, Lamichhane’s captaincy takes effect starting with the ACC Premier Cup, scheduled to take place in Malaysia from August 30 to September 12.

Along with the captaincy announcement, CAN also released the 14-member squad for the tournament, featuring Sandeep Lamichhane as skipper, alongside former captain Rohit Paudel, Aasif Sheikh, Arjun Kumal, Dev Khanal, Dipendra Singh Airee, Basir Ahamad, Ishan Pandey, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Sher Malla, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Hemant Dhami and Sundeep Jora.

Nonetheless, CAN has not yet disclosed who the vice-captain will be for the tournament in Malaysia.

This marks Lamichhane’s return to the national captaincy since August 30, 2022, when he last led Nepal in a T20I series in Kenya. He was stripped of the armband shortly after following legal charges, after which Paudel was handed the reins. Following the T20 World Cup in India in February, CAN split the captaincy by appointing Dipendra Singh Airee as the T20I skipper—a role Airee will retain—while handing the ODI mantle back to Lamichhane.

The decision to hand the captaincy back to Lamichhane comes at a critical juncture for Nepali cricket, which has faced mounting pressure amidst a turbulent ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 campaign. Nepal’s recent performances in League 2 have been plagued by batting inconsistency and tactical instability. During their recent tour to the Netherlands, Nepal suffered a humiliating four-match clean sweep against the hosts and Namibia—marking the second time Nepal faced a whitewash away from home in League 2.

Nepal currently languish in seventh place in the eight-team table with 11 wins and 19 defeats from 32 matches, leaving their direct qualification dreams and ODI status hanging by a thread.

This was Nepal’s eighth consecutive defeat on foreign soil. Out of 20 League 2 matches played on foreign soil, this is Nepal’s 14th loss. Nepal were also unable to win any match in the League 2 played during the 2024 tour of Canada—suffering three losses, while one match was washed out due to rain

The leadership swap brings scrutiny back to CAN’s captaincy philosophy. Paudel, statistically Nepal’s most successful ODI captain with 31 wins from 63 matches—having led the sensational 11-out-of-12 win streak in 2023 to secure World Cup Qualifier spot and Asia Cup qualification—now steps aside for a skipper whose previous captaincy stint yielded just 4 wins from 14 ODIs. Reappointing Lamichhane signals CAN’s intent to rely on individual match-winning pedigree to steer the team out of its competitive slump.

Lamichhane is the highest wicket-taker for Nepal in One Day Internationals. He has taken 154 wickets in 77 matches. However, after failing to take any wickets in the first three matches of the World Cup League 2 during the recent tour of the Netherlands, he was dropped for the final match against the Netherlands."

Nepal are not alone in seeking a leadership reset to revive its ODI fortunes. In recent weeks, fellow Associate nations have also made high-profile leadership changes. The Netherlands, on August 1, appointed Bas de Leede as Scott Edwards' successor to usher in a new era following their World Cup cycles, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) similarly reshuffled their leadership hierarchy by replacing Muhammad Waseem with Harpreet Singh Bhatia to address inconsistent performances in League 2.

As Nepal prepares for the ACC Premier Cup in Malaysia, all eyes will be on how Lamichhane manages a squad containing former captain Rohit Paudel and senior core players. Whether this leadership transition provides the necessary spark to stabilise Nepal’s League 2 campaign or opens up further tactical debate remains to be seen on the field.