Sandeep Lamichhane, 17, Becomes First Nepal Player To Bag An Indian Premier League Deal

Sandeep Lamichhane on Sunday created history to become the first Nepal cricketer to be bought by an Indian Premier League franchise. Lamichhane was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils for his base price Rs 20 lakh. Canada wicketkeeper Tariq Hamza and Lamichhane were the only two players part from Associate nations in the 580-player auction list. Lamichhane shot to fame during the U-19 World Cup in 2016, when he picked up 14 wickets to become the second highest wicket-taker at the tournament. Lamichhane even registered a hat-trick against Ireland during his spell of 5/27. Interestingly, there were no takers for the 17-year-old at the Bangladesh Premier League.

#SandeepLamichhane becomes first Nepal cricketer to be picked by an IPL teamhttps://t.co/F2znIH7ddN
#IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/QeMycrQRIT

— CricketNDTV (@CricketNDTV) January 28, 2018

You've already made history, @IamSandeep25. Here's to more with the #DDSquad! ??#IPLAuction #DilDilli pic.twitter.com/POHrvrHWgm

— Delhi Daredevils (@DelhiDaredevils) January 28, 2018

Earlier in the day, Jaydev Unadkat became the most expensive Indian player after he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

The former IPL champions bought the pacer for Rs 11.5 crore after beating off keen interest from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Manish Pandey and Lokesh Rahul were the most expensive Indians at the auction on Saturday as they were sold for identical price of Rs 11 crore.

Pandey was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad while Punjab secured Rahul's services.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes became the most expensive player at the IPL auction for the second year running when he was taken by Rajasthan for Rs 12.5 crore.

Surprisingly, Unadkat was more expensive than even star New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult who was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a mere Rs 2.2 crore.

(With inputs from IANS)