Mills and Oram fit for IPL

New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills and allrounder Jacob Oram have been declared fit and will be available to participate in the Indian Premier League, which begins on April 18.

Mills and Oram had missed the third Test of the home series against England because of a knee and hip injury respectively but both players passed fitness tests in Christchurch on Tuesday.

"We both passed with flying colours so we're getting packed and getting ready to go to India," Mills told Radio Sport. "I have the feeling it's [IPL] going to be a really intense competition. It's all the best players in world cricket coming together. They're not going to slacken off. We get the feeling it's going to be around a long time and that it is going to expand."

Mills will fly to India on Friday to join the Mohali team while Oram will head to Chennai where he will play alongside his former captain Stephen Fleming. The other New Zealand players involved in the IPL are Daniel Vettori (Delhi), Scott Styris (Hyderabad), Ross Taylor (Bangalore) and Brendon McCullum (Kolkata).

Vettori, Oram, McCullum, Mills and Taylor will play four Twenty20 games for their franchises before joining the New Zealand squad on their tour of England on May 1.