BBL: Hobart Hurricanes re-sign Sandeep Lamichhane for 2021-22 season

Hobart Hurricanes have managed to re-sign their star leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane for the upcoming 11th edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). Lamichhane was part of the Hurricanes set-up in the previous BBL season. Previously, the young leggie turned out for the Melbourne Stars franchise for two BBL seasons, and now the Hurricanes retained him for the 2021-22 edition.

Lamichhane has not played any franchise cricket since he turned out for Hurricanes during the 10th edition of BBL which concluded earlier this year. Last season, he picked up eight wickets for the franchise in purple and will be looking to add more wickets to his tally this time around as well.

The Nepal leg-spinner is excited to be part of BBL and is looking forward to teaming up with his mates in the Hurricanes team. “I am looking forward to returning to Australia and playing with the Hurricanes again this year,” Lamichhane said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. “I really enjoyed my time with the Hurricanes last season, so I’m excited that I will be there for the whole tournament this year.

“We had a great group of players last year, and a lot of us will still be playing together this year too. Being there for the whole season I’m hoping I can personally put together some strong performances and contribute to the team having a successful year.”

Sandeep Lamichhane looking forward to playing in the BBL

The 21-year-old was supposed to take part in the Hundred and the T20 Blast in England, but it couldn’t happen due to some problems related to visa. Now, after an agonizing wait of few months, Lamichhane is back and will finally get to play some franchise cricket. So far, he has had a good experience in the BBL for Stars as well as Hurricanes in the last season.

Interestingly, Lamichhane is the only overseas player so far in the Hurricanes as the franchise has failed to get hold of more foreign players due to strict COVID-19 norms. Hobart and a few cities have a strict mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arriving in Australia, which made the players a bit apprehensive of taking part in this year’s BBL.

Hobart Hurricanes Squad: Scott Boland, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Peter Handscomb, Caleb Jewell, Josh Kann, Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Joel Paris, Wil Parker, D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade, Mac Wright