Tait scare for the Royals, pacer may miss the season

Team Jaipur have been blindsided by a worrying hamstring injury to newly-signed Aussie pace spearhead Shaun Tait that threatens his participation in the IPL starting in April, reports Arjun Sen.

Team Jaipur have been blindsided by a worrying hamstring injury to newly-signed Aussie pace spearhead Shaun Tait that threatens his participation in the IPL starting in April.

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The injury-prone pacer, who was snapped up by the defending champions for $375,000, sustained a tendon injury to his left hamstring while playing against New Zealand.

Tait was left out of the South Australia squad for a game against Queensland and is said to be a long way from even light training.

According to reports in Australia, Tait has not been responding to treatment and has now hinged his hopes on playing the IPL on a painful procedure of having his own blood injected into the affected area.

Team Jaipur officials, however, seemed to have no clue about the injury to their new acquisition, but were understandably concerned about the news.

"I have no clue about this. He seemed fine when I last saw him playing. But yes, it will be a massive blow to us if he can't make it to the IPL," said a member of the team administration. "He was supposed to be crucial for us, especially after we lost Sohail Tanvir. If we do indeed lose him, it will hurt the team and our chances severely," he added. "We are keeping our fingers crossed he comes through."

Jaipur physiotherapist John Gloster too sounded surprised by the development. "This is news to me. He always had a history of injuries, but I had no clue about this latest one," Gloster said. "I will have to call Alex Kountouris (Australia's physio) and find out more."

Tait was Jaipur's marquee signing at the recent auction in Goa.