Kathmandu, March 2

Nepali  leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was picked by St Kitts and Nevis  Patriots for the Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament to be held from  August 8 to September 16.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots bought Lamichhane for $5,000 during an auction held in London on Thursday. Lamichhane,  who was picked up by Delhi Dardevils him for the base price of Rs 3.2 million for this season’s Indian Premier  League, became the first Nepali player to be picked  up in the CPL. Lamichhane has been snapped up alongside the West Indies’ great Chris Gayle.

“Welcome  on board @iamSandeep25. You’are officially a #SKNPatriot. Glad  to have you,” tweeted St Kitts and Nevis Patriots after the auction. After being selected for the CPL, Lamichhane expressed his excitement through Twitter. “Excited  to be the player of @sknpatriots for this season of @CPL. Thanks to  @sknpatriots team for showing your faith in me. And thanks to all the  fans and well wishers for your love and support,” wrote Lamichhane.

The 17-year-old Lamichhane is currently in national duty for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers slated for March 4-25 in Zimbabwe. A  total of 348 cricketers, including 227 overseas players and 121 West  Indies cricketers, were in the draft for the six-team competition.

Born at Aruchaur Talpokhari of Syangja district, Lamichhane stayed in India with his father Chandra Narayan Lamichhane — who works for Indian Railways — and studied in India until fourth grade. He then came to Chitwan Cricket Academy where former national team skipper Raju Khadka identified his talent and groomed him.

The then national team head coach Pubudu Dassanayake of Canada was impressed with Lamichhane’s bowling and picked him for the youth team camp at the age of 14. Lamichhane made it to the ICC U-19 World Cup squad in 2016 and came into limelight when he bagged five wickets, including a hat-trick against Ireland. He also got an opportunity to train at Michael Clarke Academy run by the former Australian skipper, who met Lamichhane during a Twenty20 event in Hong Kong.

Lendl Simmons of the West Indies and Martin Guptill of New Zealand drew the highest bids along with the West Indies’ Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell and Sohail Tanvir of Pakistan. They were bought for the maximum price of $160,000.

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will join Guptill at Jamaica Tallawahs, while defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders will have the services of Dwayne Bravo, Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum.