The New Zealand all-rounder is suffering from an Achilles tendon strain and may withdraw from this year’s tournament if the injury forces him to miss his domestic state championship final from April 6.

The Chennai Super Kings take on the Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the IPL in Cape Town on April 18.

“It will be a big blow for us if Oram is unable to play the IPL,” Super Kings’ cricket operations director VB Chandrasekhar said.

“He had fitted into our team structure quite beautifully last season and we were really looking forward to having him for the whole of the tournament this time around.

“Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming are in New Zealand. They are trying to convince Oram to play the tournament, but if he doesn’t feel up to it, we won’t force him.”Assuming he is fit, the Super Kings will place an even greater workload on Oram given that the tournament’s switch to South Africa has reduced the availability of England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

“Flintoff won’t be available for too many matches and Oram and Albie Morkel would have to share the workload,” Chandrasekhar added.

“Obviously Oram’s absence would put Morkel under great strain. But then these guys are actually walking a very fine line.

“It’s not always easy for them to take a call on whether they should preserve themselves for international cricket or go ahead with a tournament like IPL.

“If Oram does give the tournament a miss, his all-round abilities will surely be missed.”
Source – skysports.com

Injury-prone New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram has denied suggestions he is saving himself for the lucrative Indian Premier League in South Africa at the expense of playing the current test series against India.

Oram will take no part in the three-test series after the experienced international player confirmed he had aggravated an Achilles tendon strain that plagued him during the one-day series against the Indians.

The injury forced his withdrawal from Central Districts’ current domestic four-day match against Auckland but hoped he would be fit for the State Championship final against the same opponents at Lincoln, outside Christchurch, on April 6.

Oram told The Dominion Post newspaper if he was not able to play or complete the five-day final he would not be available to fulfil his US$675,000 ($1,221,277) contract with the Chennai Super Kings.

He aggravated the injury while bowling against Canterbury in the last round of the State Championship in New Plymouth last week.

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“I can understand people thinking I’m cotton-wooling myself but I’ll definitely take myself out (of the IPL) if I don’t get through the final,” Oram said.

After the ODI series with India ended in Auckland on March 14 Oram made himself unavailable for the first two tests against India.

Following consultation with New Zealand Cricket selectors and medical staff it was decided he should build his fitness and form in the domestic competition.

Chennai are scheduled to open the second edition of the IPL against Mumbai in Cape Town on April 18.
Source – nzherald.co.nz

It has now been now decided that IPL venue will be shifted to international grounds – most likely to England and South Africa. It’s not something that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bosses were expecting, but given the circumstances, they will take it.

They know that they will incur losses in revenue, but it was important for them to have the business module of the Indian Premier League (IPL) flowing.

According to a top CSK official, they had earned Rs 12.5 crore only from gate sales last season.

“We’re going to miss out on a chunk of that money,” the source said, but “there’s not much we can do about it. For us, it is important that the IPL happens, come what may.”

They are not yet sure what their ‘home ground’ will be, but they’re already looking to create a fan base wherever they’re asked to play.

“The one good thing about South Africa and England is that there’s a big Indian population there. And given the success of the last season, we’ll probably be able to form a decent enough fan base,” the official said, adding that it’s a disappointment that the fans in Chennai will miss out on the live action.

“We understand their sentiments. But at the same time, it’s also true that 98 per cent of the IPL viewership comprises TV audience.” the official said.

The production costs will shoot up substantially for hosting the matches outside India, but the CSK top-brass is hoping that those will be shared by the IPL authorities.

“We will be having discussions over the next few days. We hope to keep the expenses to manageable proportions,” he added.

It’s obvious that there won’t be more than 16-18 players with the squad. “We have to treat it like a tour, some players will have to miss out, but then again, we’ve to live with it,” the source added.

CSK is likely to host a camp wherever their home is and will decide on the composition of the team. Luckily for CSK, all their 10 foreigners won’t be available right through the tournament and they’ll be able to rotate most of them.

“Freddie Flintoff is available for three weeks, at that time, Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini have international commitments. Then Mike Hussey, too, will play only a few matches. So, we can rotate our foreigners quite effectively,” he added.

Meanwhile, S. Badrinath, who is one of the certainties in the CSK team, will miss the Chepauk atmosphere, but he also believes this will be a good exposure for him.

“Playing in South Africa or England will be interesting. And we really have a very balanced team that can do well anywhere,” Badrinath said, adding that he’ll be surprised that if the team doesn’t make the semifinals.
Source – .televisionpoint.com

Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is hoping to get some cricket under his belt with Wellington before returning for a second stint with Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

The 35-year-old batsman has been spending time with his family and setting up a new business since retiring from the international scene earlier this year and admitted getting his focus back on cricket would be a battle ahead of next year’s April 10 start date for the Twenty20 tournament.”I think the challenge will be mentally to become a cricketer again. At the moment I’m certainly not a cricketer.

“To be going back and forth is a bit awkward and will be a challenge.”I’ll have to wait and see how I deal with it.”Fleming has not taken up one of Wellington’s 12 full-time contracts and instead hopes to play for them on a more casual basis once the draw has been decided.”I’m trying to put something together that gives me an opportunity to get some cricket under my belt and play well and contribute,” he told Radio Sport.

“So if it can take place then I will certainly do it. If not, then I will just have to batten down the hatches over there.”Turning up cold against Shoaib (Akhtar) and Brett (Lee) doesn’t excite me that much.”
Source: cricket365.com

In the final of DLF – Indian Premier League, one can not ask for a better match. It was a real thriller in which both the teams fought till the very last bowl. Rajasthan Royals needed 8 runs in last over and Chennai Super Kings needed to defend it or take 3 wickets. But it was Rajasthan Royals who holded the nerves and won the match and thus won the inaugural  DLF – IPL cup.

Chasing a target of  164 Rajasthan Royals kept loosing wickets at regular interval and it looked like Super Kings had a chance but Yousaf Pathan again came to the rescue of Rajasthan Royals and scored 56 before being run out. After that all the batsmen played some useful innings and in the end it was on the shoulders of Shane Warne to take his team toward the victory.The last over was bowled by Balaji and they got 2 on very first bowl and then the next one was a dot ball. Rajasthan Royals needed 6 runs of 3 balls and then a blunder was done by both Patel and Balaji. He bowled a wide which was missed by Patel and Rajasthan Royals got 2 runs and the equation changed to 4 runs from 3 balls. The drama was not ending and it was  1 run from 1 ball. Tanveer scored a boundary and it was all over for Chennai Super Kings.

Rajasthan Royals were treated as underdogs at the start but they have shown that they were the best team in the tournament and thus deserved the Inaugral Cup of DLF- IPL