Two years since he stood next to Michael Clarke and boldly told Sydney's media that "my dream is to play Big Bash", Sandeep Lamichhane is just days away from achieving his goal.

Still just 18 years old, Lamichhane will create history on Friday when he makes his KFC BBL debut for Melbourne Stars in Canberra and becomes the first player from the rapidly-growing cricketing nation of Nepal to play in the Big Bash.

Lamichhane's stint with the Stars will conclude another memorable year for the teenage leg-spinner and for cricket in his homeland, a country that has an undeniable passion for the game despite its national team having only been in existence since the mid-1990s.

Lamichhane has continued to forge a path forward for Nepalese cricket in 2018, competing in top-flight domestic leagues in India, Canada, the Caribbean and the UAE, and playing with and against some of the best players in the world.

He's shared a dressing room with the likes of Ricky Ponting, Glenn Maxwell, Sunil Narine and Chris Gayle and taken the wickets of David Warner, Chris Lynn and Kieron Pollard along the way.

All this in the same year that Nepal earned full international status in both one-day and T20 cricket for the very first time and played on the hallowed turf of Lord's.

And while Lamichhane will be pulling on the green of the Stars over the coming weeks, the blue and red of Nepal – and the thousands of passionate fans in his homeland – won't be far from his mind.

"It always means we're carrying the whole nation on our shoulders," he told cricket.com.au.

"If I perform well, it'll be good for Nepal cricket as well as me.

"For the youngsters (at home), it'll be a good lesson for them to not give up and that their time will come.

"Now everyone at home is realising that you can get something good out of sport. I want to stay on this train so that everyone can enjoy sport and enjoy their life."

Despite this being his first season of professional cricket in Australia, Lamichhane has had every reason to feel at home since he arrived in Melbourne last week.

Stars captain Maxwell was a teammate at the Ponting-coached Delhi Daredevils in the IPL this year, where the leggie impressed in his first taste of the world's premier T20 competition.

There are his strong links with Clarke, who was so impressed by the then 15-year-old Lamichhane during a tournament in Hong Kong in 2016 that he encouraged him to come and play alongside side him at Western Suburbs in Sydney Premier (club) Cricket.

And then there's Australia's 60,000 strong Nepalese community, one of the fastest-growing migrant populations in the country, that are set to become Big Bash regulars now that their cricketing hero is Down Under.

"They were all very happy and excited about the BBL this year," Lamichhane said having received a warm reception at Melbourne's Nepal Festival on Saturday.

"They were all saying they're really keen to come to the MCG and cheer for the Melbourne Stars.

"Everybody recognised me and were giving their love and blessing.

"Whenever there's a game in Nepal, you'll get 15 or 20 thousand people there every time.

"I would love to see people come down in large numbers and cheer on our team and chant for us."