Worcestershire sign Sandeep Lamichhane for T20 Blast

Lamichhane, 20, has never played in England before but has featured in T20 franchise competitions all over the world

Worcestershire have signed Nepalese leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane as their second overseas player for the T20 Blast, joining Australian seamer Ben Dwarshuis.

Lamichhane, 20, has never played in England before but has featured in T20 franchise competitions all over the world.

He earned his first Indian Premier League deal at 17 years of age, when he was signed up by Delhi Daredevils, while also having represented Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash, Sylhet Sixers in the Bangladesh Premier League, Nangarhar Leopards in the Afghanistan Premier League, Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League and three sides in the Caribbean Premier League.

Like Dwarshuis, who was Sydney Sixers’ leading wicket-taker in their recent successful Big Bash campaign, Lamichhane is also set to be available for the duration of the competition’s group stage. He is also set to represent Oval Invincibles in The Hundred later in the summer.

Worcestershire head coach Alex Gidman said: “Sandeep has played in many tournaments and gained a lot of experience in franchise cricket.

“He’s a leg spinner, which is a bit of mystery spin we believe we need in our squad in terms of balance, so we are ecstatic with the signing.

“We believe and trust that we have got an excellent squad of players ourselves, and it’s about adding to that squad, rather than getting players to replace players, and add to the balance of the team, which we think we’ve done well.”

Lamichhane’s signing will provide the 2018 Blast champions with a specialist spin option, alongside allrounders Moeen Ali and Brett D’Oliveira.

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