Injury-plagued Oram says World Cup is his ‘carrot’ to nix his ‘R’ word fears

AUCKLAND - New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram will be sidelined for the rest of this year after he has a knee surgery next week, but he remains determined to be fit for the 2011 World Cup in the Indian subcontinent.

Oram, who injured his left knee during a practice session for the ongoing ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka, will undergo surgery after an MRI scan revealed damage to his patellar tendon.

He had problems with the same knee before the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean, and had also injured it during July’s pre-tour camp in Darwin.

“If it does go to plan, then that gives me a month before the flight to the subcontinent for the World Cup,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Oram, as saying.

“I’m looking at that as the carrot for me because I need something to keep me focused or I will probably slip into ‘woe is me’ mode and look at the ‘R’ word. I’m not ready for that yet.”

“Obviously my body has gone past the hinting period - I think it’s yelling at me. But I’m pretty stubborn and I still have this big goal of going to the World Cup,” he added.

The 32-year-old further said that giving up bowling was not an option for him to prolong his injury-plagued decade-long career.

“With the amount of injuries and limited game time I’ve had, my form has dipped and with that a bit of confidence,” Oram said.

“I’ve also slipped down the batting order so I’m thinking if I give bowling up they’re not going to pick me as a specialist batter at seven or eight,” he added. (ANI)