Appoints globe-trotting legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane as Nepal's national cricket team skipper
KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 15
The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) removed skipper Gyanendra Malla and his deputy Dipendra Singh Airee from their posts and appointed Sandeep Lamichhane as the national cricket team captain.
The board meeting of the cricket governing body, chaired by President Chatur Bahadur Chand, imposed further sanctions on the duo along with Sompal Kami and Kamal Singh Airee. According to the CAN, the four players will not be considered for the first six months of the 2022 central contract. "As per the recommendation of the probe committee, the four cricketers have found to have breached players' code of conduct and they will not be included for the first six months of the 2022 central contract," said CAN in a release.
The row between the CAN and players came to an end on a sour note as the governing body imposed the sanctions on four cricketers upon the recommendation of a probe committee formed to investigate the matter after the players expressed their dissatisfactions over the grading of a couple of players.
CAN, which had not made public the 2021 grading, asked them to furnish explanation over the outburst against the governing body on November 11 but the cricketers ran a signature campaign against CAN's move and submitted an 11-point memorandum to the governing body on November 21 with an ultimatum of seven days.
The four players did submit their explanation but the CAN was not convinced with their replies and it asked them to furnish another clarification within three days.
The CAN had already formed a probe committee under acting Secretary Prashant Bikram Malla, who had ruled out the possibility of review in the players' grading, and the five-member body recommended the sanctions to the board.
The sanctions, however, came at a wrong time as the national team is supposed to prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers slated for February in Oman. The CAN has appointed Pubudu Dassanayake as the head coach and he is scheduled to land on December 20. The board meeting also decided to organise the national team camp in Pokhara from December 21 and newly-appointed skipper Lamichhane is currently playing in the Big Bash League in Australia.
Meanwhile, the board meeting appointed former vice-president Naresh Shrestha as the member of Advisory Committee and give approval to the Nepal Coaches' Association.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 16, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
