IPL's off-field glitz makes you wonder if you're in India for cricket: Oram

Mumbai, May 21 : New Zealand and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Jacob Oram has revealed that the various off-field glitz and surreal moments of the Indian Premier League leave him shaking his head in disbelief.

Oram has spent the past six weeks in India after been summoned as an injury replacement for England’s Paul Collingwood.

The 32-year-old said that playing under Shane Warne’s captaincy and the after-parties were the highlight.

“After nearly every game there’s an after-party, there’s Bollywood stars there and fashion parades; the drinks are free and the cheerleaders are around. It’s a different world. Sometimes you wonder if you’re here for cricket or not. Ultimately you are. It is good fun, but at the same time I don’t think it’s reality,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Oram, as saying.

“Warne is a nice guy, really easy to talk to. He’s about to retire and that experience will last forever. I’m glad I had that opportunity. I played alongside Rahul Dravid; there’s some pretty cool things I’ve experienced,” he added.

The all-rounder also felt that despite a slip in the television ratings, the IPL was still capturing the imagination in cricket-mad India.

“It’s everywhere. You flick through the different TV channels and half of them will have some panel talking about the IPL. There’s half a dozen pages in every paper, it’s all about the IPL. They have an hour’s buildup and an hour’s review of every match,” Oram said.

Oram further said that meeting Warne’s girlfriend, actress Elizabeth Hurley, would also be memorial.

“She [Hurley] was here for a week, halfway through the tournament. She’s a very nice lady and has an organic farm herself, so with my wife’s family being organic farmers there was a conversation starter there,” Oram said.

“She brought her kids across and Shane had his three kids there, and nannies and a bit of security so there was a massive entourage for a while,” he added.

Oram will now head back to New Zealand, as the Rajasthan Royals bowed out of semifinal contention.