IPL 2017: Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard Scheduled To Arrive On Time For Mumbai Indians
Apr 1, 2017 at 4:33 PM
After being bolstered by the return of skipper Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians (MI) is set to welcome West Indies T20 specialists, Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons. Their involvement during the start of the tournament was in doubts due to their current national commitments.
Both Simmons and Pollard are a part of the team that is involved in a four-game T20 series against Pakistan at home. The series is set to end on Sunday giving the duo an opportunity to join the team on time ahead of their tournament opener against Rising Pune SuperGiant on April 6.
At the moment, the arrival news of such specialists players seems like a wonderful feeling in the camp amidst all the injury stories doing the rounds.
“Pollard and Simmons will reach Mumbai on April 4 and join the team in Pune on April 5 for pre-match training,” MI’s official spokesperson informed PTI today.
MI, unfortunately, are set to miss their bowling spearhead Lasith Malinga and newly acquired middle order batsmen Asela Gunaratne for the opening game in Pune. While Gunaratne remains an untested name in the IPL, the absence of Malinga would affect MI in the opening match, as it causes a setback to their plan of fielding the strongest team and having a winning start.
The presence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Johnson, however, will ensure they still possess the intimidation factor in their bowling attack. Also, New Zealand fast bowling pair of Mitchell McClenaghan and Tim Southee are also expected to arrive on Saturday night which would be another great advantage.