West Indies series win was big, shows where Nepal cricket is heading - Lamichhane

Leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane is considered the face of Nepal cricket. In an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz, Lamichhane opened up about his team's famous series win over West Indies, how he became a leg-spinner, his preparation process against big hitters and lots more.

Excerpts:

How did you become a leg spinner?

Sandeep Lamichhane: It wasn't that difficult but so many people don't even know that I started bowling medium pace before becoming a leg spinner.

Then why did you switch to leg spin?

Sandeep Lamichhane: Because there was no one in Nepal who bowled leg spin. It was really easy for me to get into the system as a leg spinner, if I bowled really well. I played a lot of gully cricket and in gully cricket it's really hard to get a batter out. You need to use all your tricks. Sometimes I used to bowl left-arm spin, sometimes off-spin, sometimes medium pace, and then when you see there is no way of picking the wickets, there's always one thing left, which is leg spin.

That's how I started leg spin in gully cricket. Later on, when I went to cricket clubs, I started as a medium pacer and then later realized, when I was looking for opportunities to get into the system, that there were no leg spinners in the whole country. I had to tell myself that this was the opportunity and you need to grab it with both hands. There I started bowling leg spin as a professional cricketer, and that's how my journey started in Chitwan.

There are different kinds of leg-spinners in different eras of cricket. There were Shane Warne and Narendra Hirwani in the years gone by. Now there's a different type - like Rashid Khan, who bowls quick leg spin. Where do you see yourself?

Sandeep Lamichhane: See, it's not only leg spin culture that has changed, the cricketing culture has changed. The wickets are so flat these days. If you talk about the era of the legendary leg spinner Shane Warne, wickets used to be a bit helpful for both fast bowlers and spinners. But these days if you see, wickets are really, really good for the batters. It's really difficult for you to find and adjust to the condition real quick, but as a leg spinner, you rely on so many areas - where you're going to winget the wickets for the team, and how not to leak the runs as well.

So it's like a win-win situation for a leg spinner if he wants to go back to the old era where they used to give flight and lot of revs on the ball with leg spin, or you come to this era where you have to be a bit quicker in the air, short of good length, or keep changing the length every time.

Batters are aware of what you're going to bowl, technology has changed, lot of analysts are there who keep an eye on every single delivery you bowl. So I feel like it's fair to bowl in a bit of Rashid pace at this point of time, but not to forget you are a leg spinner as well, so go with conventional leg spin. So, you know, somewhere between Shane Warne and Rashid Khan, if you adjust yourself there, that should be a great thing.

How do you prepare when you've to bowl to some of the biggest hitters in T20 cricket?

Sandeep Lamichhane:I just try and keep things really, really simple, try to follow the basics and keep on doing spot bowling as much as possible. I keep on bowling in the nets as much as possible so that I stay in good rhythm, good shape, and be prepared for the next game. So I still do the same things which I did when I started my cricket journey.

Do you rely on technology to help you prepare better?

Sandeep Lamichhane: First thing I do is stay on my strengths, and then second, if I match my strengths to the weakness of the batters, that's a perfect combination. And then I go to analysts and try to sit with them and look at the videos, which are the areas... Let's say, if I bowl straight once to some batters, they definitely cannot pick me. But if they start picking me, what are the other plans? What are the areas or what are the lengths or lines I should be bowling?

So, thankfully, we've got a wonderful analyst here. We get to have the knowledge about different batters and their way of playing cricket and their strengths and weakness. So it's really necessary to have someone like them and to improve your cricketing knowledge for any particular game.

As far as Nepal cricket is concerned how important was your T20I series win against West Indies?

Sandeep Lamichhane: For the whole of Nepal and for Associate Cricket, it was a big thing. I get very proud whenever I think about it and whenever I see how the boys actually played and gave their 100%. Every single individual, every single citizen of Nepal, they definitely know the value of the kind of cricket we played against West Indies.

It was absolutely amazing and mesmerizing to see. And that definitely shows where Nepal cricket is heading. It is just growing every single time we get an opportunity. And definitely in near future, we look forward to some other Test playing nations to invite us or come to Nepal and have a bilateral series or triangular series.

From a spinner's point of view, how excited you are playing in the World Cup in India?

Sandeep Lamichhane: We are playing all our four games in Wankhede, Mumbai. Conditions definitely are not going to favour the spinners. But if you stay there and try to maximize whatever opportunities come to you and win the game for the side, everyone will definitely notice you. And that's definitely going to excite you as a cricket player.