Here’s sad news for Chennai Super Kings. Kiwi all-rounder Jacob Oram might pull out of the much awaited Indian Premier League (IPL)'s second season, if a pesky Achilles tendon injury, which has been ailing him for sometime now, stops his involvement in the domestic State Championship final on April 6..

Chennai Super Kings picked the Kiwi all-rounder for a massive 675,000 dollars last year. Oram played a big role with both bat and ball in Chennai's first three wins in the last season of the IPL.

Auckland (New Zealand), Mar. 31 : New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram has said that he may opt out of 675,000 dollar Indian Premier League contract if he fails to complete the State Championship final.

The injury-plagued all-rounder is suffering from an aggravated Achilles tendon injury, and after consulting New Zealand Cricket''s medical staff it was decided he should miss the current match and aim for the five-day final against Auckland, starting on April 6.

Wellington (New Zealand), Mar. 31 : West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove has been replaced for Friday''''s third cricket test between New Zealand and India at the Basin Reserve as he continues to recover from illness.

Doctrove had to pull out of the second test in Napier last Saturday after two days play when he was diagnosed with a chest infection. He was replaced by New Zealand''''s Evan Watkin, the NZPA reports.

Two neutral umpires will stand in the series finale.

Wellington - An influenza epidemic has struck more than one in 10 people living on the three remote atolls of Tokelau in the South Pacific, which calls itself the last paradise on earth, health authorities in New Zealand reported on Tuesday.

Most of the 150 people affected are children and the New Zealand Ministry of Health sent a nurse with an official from the World Health Organisation to the isolated territory with vaccines and to obtain sample swabs so that the strain of influenza can be identified.

Napier (New Zealand), Mar. 30 : India on Monday proved that it is a side very keen to acquire champion status by converting a no-win situation into which it was placed on the third day into a very creditable draw on the fifth and final day of the second Test against New Zealand at the MaClean Park in Napier.

Having been asked by the Kiwis to follow on 314 runs behind on the third day of the Test, India's batters put up a spirited reply and pushed the Test towards a draw with a second innings score of 476 for four.

Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key reprimanded one of his ministers on Monday and forced him to abandon some business ties over a perceived conflict of interest on a recent private trip to India.

Key told a news conference that Minister of Internal Affairs Richard Worth had resigned his connections with a company that is trying to attract Indian student pilots to train in New Zealand.