Sandeep Lamichhane, the former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team, was convicted on Friday of raping a minor.
Kathmandu District Court’s single bench — comprising Judge Shishir Raj Dhakal — passed the order following the conclusion of the final hearings that started last week, according to the Kathmandu Post.
The next hearing will determine the jail term for the player, the report added.
The cricketer, who faced arrest following an allegation by a 17-year-old girl that he raped her in a hotel room in Kathmandu last August, was granted bail by a Nepal court in January.
A joint panel of judges from the Patan High Court, Dhruvaraj Nanda and Ramesh Dhakal, opted to release Lamichhane on a bail of Rs 2 million, overturning the decision of the Kathmandu district court.
The 23-year-old was also prohibited from departing the country until the court reached a final verdict on the case.
In February, during their three-wicket defeat to Nepal, the cricket team players from Scotland declined to shake hands with Lamichhane.
While the Scottish players exchanged pleasantries with all the Nepal players, they omitted Lamichhane in a silent demonstration against the spinner’s continued involvement in the ICC’s Cricket World Cup League 2 series, which also features Namibia. Lamichhane had been informed about the protest beforehand.
Lamichhane made history as Nepal's inaugural cricketer to compete in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when he debuted for the Delhi Capitals in 2018.
The leg-spinner was highly sought after in prominent T20 leagues worldwide, including Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), the Pakistan Super League (PSL), and the CPL.
He holds the distinction of being the world’s second-fastest bowler to claim 50 ODI wickets and the third-fastest to achieve 50 T20I wickets.
Lamichhane’s most recent appearance in international cricket was in August this year during a T20I match against Kenya.