Sandeep Lamichhane

Hong Kong played a central role in getting him noticed. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke saw him there and helped him take up Grade cricket in Sydney in late 2016. Turning out for Western Suburbs, he got a taste of Australian club cricket and learned from Clarke, Warne and other leading names. IPL talent scouts also watched him at the Hong Kong T20 sixes in 2017 and invited him to a trial against established players, which he passed.

His record at junior and associate level had already marked him out. At an Under-19 tournament in 2016 he collected 14 wickets, among them a five-wicket return against Ireland. He then made an impact in the WCL Championship, and in 2018 he was named player of the tournament at the Division Two event in Namibia, a campaign that took Nepal into the World Cup qualifiers for only the second time. Aged 17, he was an important figure in the Nepal squad that contested the qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup.

Not long after turning 18, he played his first season in the CPL with St Kitts and enjoyed modest returns in the opening half of the event. Regarded as a thoughtful bowler with a wide range of variations and a well-disguised delivery, he is viewed as a player with a big future in the T20 game.