Patan, May 15 (IANS): The Patan High Court on Wednesday acquitted Nepal cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane in the rape case after the Kathmandu District Court sentenced him eight years in jail in January, reports stated.

Sandeep is now available for the T20 World Cup squad after he was found innocent. However, Nepal has already announced the 15-player squad led by Rohit Paudel but with the ICC rule of allowing the teams to make changes to their squad until May 25 it is certain that Lamichhane might get picked.

According to local media reports, the court found Lamichhane innocent of raping a woman identified as Gushala-26 in a hotel in Tilganga on August 21, 2022.

Senior advocates Ram Narayan Bidari, Raman Shrestha, Shambu Thapa, Murari Sapkota, and Krishna Sapkota presented their arguments on behalf of cricketer Lamichhane, challenging the Kathmandu District Court's verdict that convicted him in a rape case, it said.

The proceedings, which commenced on Tuesday, continued through Wednesday and it all came in favour of the 23-year-old cricketer.

Sandeep has represented Nepal in 52 T20I matches and has taken 98 wickets and will be crucial for Nepal’s T20 WC run as they face The Netherlands on June 4 at Texan to begin their campaign.