Sandeep Lamichhane, a spinner from Nepal, is the first and only cricket player from that nation to compete in the Indian Premier League thus far. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has been instrumental in developing Lamichhane's potential. Lamichhane is a cricketer whose name is recognized by his national team primarily due to his accomplishments in T20 leagues around the world.

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Lamichhane bought himself into the IPL 2018 auction for a base price of INR 20 lakh (about $27,000), and he was traded to the Delhi Daredevils (now the Delhi Capitals) for that exact amount. Delhi's scouting team was quite impressed with Lamichhane's abilities as they were assembling a brand-new squad in a major auction.

Sandeep Lamichhane has credited Michael Clarke's mentoring for his first IPL deal five days after Delhi Daredevils purchased him for INR 20 lakh.
When Lamichhane was initially chosen for the lucrative IPL, he was only 17 years old. Interestingly, because it didn't have ODI or T20I status at the time, Nepal used to compete in Division 2. Lamichhane attracted attention because to his crop of bowlers, who are known for their ability to take wickets, after taking 12 in nine games during the WCL Championship.

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Regarding Clarke, Lamichhane first spoke with him at the 2016 Hong Kong T20 Blitz. Rain caused the competition to be shortened, thus he could only bowl three overs. Clarke was able to recognize the leg-spinner's potential despite this, however. Later, Lamichhane was invited by Clarke to play for Western Suburbs in the Sydney grade tournament while in Australia.

On January 26, five days after finding a buyer in the IPL 2018 auction, Lamichhane spoke about Clarke's contribution to his accomplishment. Lamichhane explained to PTI how Clarke looked after him and how playing in Australia was crucial to his growth.