Oram heads back home from Lanka for knee treatment

WELLINGTON - New Zealand all rounder Jacob Oram is on his way home, skipping the remainder of the ongoing ODI tri-series series in Sri Lanka to seek treatment on a persistent knee injury.

“The Central Districts all rounder is due to see a specialist in Auckland tomorrow, leaving his provincial coach Alan Hunt sweating over his fitness ahead of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in South Africa next month,” reports NZPA.

Oram hurt his knee during training at Dambulla yesterday, as the Kiwis prepared for Wednesday’s virtual tri-series one-day semi-final against India

“Oram had been carrying the injury for some time although he was fine when taking figures none for 26 off nine overs in the ultimately weather-aborted one-dayer against Sri Lanka at Dambulla last weekend,” said Central Districts coach Alan Hunt.

“This knee has been troublesome for some time. He has been having niggles on and off with it for a reasonable period of time. It has clearly flared up again in the last couple of days in Sri Lanka and they have tried to treat it over there without any success,” he added.

The Central Districts coach further said it was for others to determine whether there was a short-term solution to the injury or whether a surgery was required.

Thirty-two-year-old Oram retired from test cricket last October in a bid to extend his career in the limited overs formats. (ANI)