Mumbai Indians rope in West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons

West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons has been included in the Mumbai Indians squad in place of Jalaj Saxena, the Indian Premier League technical committee announced on Tuesday.

While no reason was given for the change, the move will definitely boost the morale of Mumbai, who are lying at the bottom of the points table.

“The IPL Event Technical Committee has approved Simmons as a replacement player for Jalaj Saxena for the remainder of the IPL 2014 season. Simmons is eligible to play for Mumbai Indians with immediate effect,” read an IPL release.

Saxena, who plays for Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket, was purchased by Mumbai for Rs 90 lakh in the February auctions. He has not played a single of the team’s four consecutive losses in the UAE.

Meanwhile Simmons, 29, has never played IPL so far but he has the experience of featuring in eight Tests, 58 ODIs and 30 Twenty20 internationals for the West Indies.

Heard about Sachin has wont be available to play in the west Indies cricket series but that shouldnt effect us much. I think Team India can do without Sachin.