Even as the news filtered in that the Rajasthan Royals had sacked seven of their cricketers from the team, comes another shock for the team; Shaun Tait has been ordered home by the Australian cricket board (CA) as he has failed to recover from his injury. With the ICC World T20 looming large immediately after the second season of IPL it became necessary to rest Tait, beleaguering the team further. 
Cricket Australia media-man, Peter Young said, âShaun Tait wonât be playing IPL. He is still working through the rehab program and it has been determined that he wonât be playing IPL. He has a hamstring injury and thereâs associated issues behind the hamstring injury.â
It may have been a big disappointment for Tait as well, as he would have had a chance to show-case his talent on the world stage after having prematurely retired from international cricket a year back. His manager echoed these sentiments when he âThe IPL was the only chance to prove his fitness before the squad for the Twenty20 World Cup was picked. How he proves that now, I donât knowâ
The tournament had already been shorn of Australian cricketers, and with the withdrawal of Tait, the list extends to Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson and now Tait himself. From the teamâs perspective, it will serve as another blow to the chances, as they had already lost Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir earlier.
My take on the issue: As much as I like Shane Warneâs ability to motivate players, I was surprised to see Tait replace Tanvir in the line-up as the fast bowler. Taitâs track record of breaking down has been âexemplaryâ and with Munaf Patel already a part of the team, it would have been more preferable for the Royals to go ahead with someone who could be expected to play through the tournament.
It also remains to be seen whether Mohammad Kaif now gets a call-up back or whether the Royals go for a bowler-to-bowler swap.