• Mohammad Rizwan under fire for meeting spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.
• Sandeep was granted bail after being charged with rape in a Kathmandu hotel.
• Nepal’s attorney general had already filed appeal to have him returned to detention.

Mohammad Rizwan, the standout wicketkeeper-batsman for Pakistan, has come under fire on social media after meeting spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and other Nepali squad members on Sunday in Kathmandu.

Lamichhane was granted bail last month after being charged with raping a 17-year-old woman in a Kathmandu hotel room in August. During his visit, Rizwan also spoke with Chatur Bahadur Chand, the president of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).

“Rizwan said that he came to see Sandeep as he could not go out [of the country],” said Chand.

Rizwan allegedly “motivated” Lamichhane at the encounter, according to the Nepalese media.

On Wednesday, the senior law enforcement official in the Himalayan republic tried to have Nepal’s top cricketer brought back to detention on rape charges, but the suspension was later removed.

The board agreed to let the 22-year-old to return to the field on Wednesday, according to Chatur Bahadur Chand, president of the Cricket Association of Nepal.

“The board had taken disciplinary action against him and suspended him. The new decision to lift the suspension will allow him to play games,” Chand said.

Because the decision to release Lamichhane on bond was “flawed,” Nepal’s attorney general had already filed an appeal to have him returned to detention, according to office spokeswoman Sanjiv Raj Regmi.

“We have asked the Supreme Court to overturn the high court´s decision,” Regmi said.

“An accused of any criminal offence that could lead to the prison term of more than three years must stay in custody.”

A renowned spinner, Lamichhane served as the face of cricket in Nepal’s hilly region as it acquired one-day international status in 2018.

His big break came in 2018, when the Delhi Capitals signed him for the lucrative Indian Premier League. Since then, he has become the most sought-after cricketer in Nepal. While he was playing in the Caribbean Premier League in September, authorities issued an arrest order for him.

He went back, was apprehended the next month, and has defended his pre-trial incarceration while claiming innocence. Following the issuance of the arrest warrant, Lamichhane’s captaincy of Nepal’s cricket team was suspended.

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