Mumbai, Apr 16 (IANS): Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants in match 26 of IPL 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium here on Saturday.

After winning the toss, Sharma confirmed that West Indies all-rounder Fabian Allen comes into the playing eleven in place of pacer Basil Thampi, which means Mumbai will be using all four overseas slots for the first time in the competition. "Since it's a day game we tried to get another slower ball. It's a good pitch to play cricket and with his experience coming in, it will be good for us."

Asked about what Mumbai need to do to break their winless run, Sharma remarked, "We just need to keep things under control and stay calm, it's that simple. We don't need to overcomplicate things. We just need to come out and play basic cricket and will be focusing on doing that."

Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul, who marks his 100th IPL appearance, said top-order batter Manish Pandey replaces off-spin all-rounder K Gowtham in the playing eleven.

"We are playing some good cricket since the first game. It's a new team and the boys are coming together really well and we always found a way to stay in the game. The vibe has been good since the first game and the energy in the dressing room is positive."

Playing XIs

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Tymal Mills.

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan.