New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram says he will pull out of the Indian Premier League if a nagging Achilles tendon strain prevents him from playing the domestic State Championship final on April 6.
Oram, who represents Chennai Super Kings in the cash-rich league, denied suggestions that he was trying to save himself for the Twenty20 event by not playing in the ongoing Test series against India which the Kiwis trail 0-1.
"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 told 'The Dominion Post'.
Apart from the India series, the injury has forced him to withdraw from the Central Districts' domestic four-day match against Auckland.
But the imposing all-rounder said he was hopeful of being fit for the State Championship final against the same side at Lincoln, outside Christchurch.
Oram has a USD 675,000 contract with the Chennai Super Kings, who will open the second edition of the IPL against the Mumbai Indians in Cape Town on April 18.