Groin injury rules Jesse Ryder out of IPL

Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, has been ruled out of this season's IPL as his recovery from a groin injury was taking longer than expected. He has been troubled by it since last year's IPL and aggravated the problem during the ICC Champions Trophy in September. Ryder has not played any international cricket since.

His manager, Aaron Klee, said Ryder was now focussing on getting fully fit for the World Twenty20 in the West Indies. "Jesse is understandably disappointed about not going to India for the IPL, but he is realistic about returning too early and aggravating his groin injury," Klee said. "He is better to be completely recovered and play a full tournament in the West Indies than risk rushing back to play IPL and jeopardising his involvement in both tournaments."

Ryder will continue his rehabilitation with a four-week stint at the high-performance centre in Christchurch with John Wright. Ryder's injury has already ruled him out of the upcoming home series against Bangladesh and has also put him in doubt for the series against Australia in February-March.

"At the moment he's coming down for four weeks and we'll see how he goes," New Zealand physio Kate Stalker told the Dominion Post. "He'll be batting every day with Wrighty. He enjoys batting with Wrighty so it's a good opportunity to combine the two. He's definitely been doing the right things, it's just to be able to do more."

He is one of several New Zealand players recovering from injury. Allrounder Grant Elliott was scheduled to see a knee specialist and Stalker said he could need surgery. "If his knee hasn't settled sufficiently he might require surgery but we're hoping he'll just require a conservative rehab plan from here."

Kyle Mills, who is recovering from knee and shoulder problems, is due to return in late March, while Shane Bond (abdomen problem) is on track to play Australia.