India's strongest playing XI for the T20I series against England

Bowlers: Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, T Natarajan

Yuzvendra Chahal has been a tad inconsistent in the T20I format

Shardul Thakur is slowly worming his way into the all-rounders category, but as of now, he is still a bowler. And he is a bowler who has done well in the limited opportunities he has gotten so far.

Thakur found swing at any stage of the innings against Australia, and was decent at the death as well. Although he may not be required at the fag end of the innings this time around, he is certainly a wicket-taking asset captain Kohli would love to call upon.

Thakur might get the nod ahead of Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar, both of whom had forgettable outings during the white-ball leg of the Australia tour. If the wicket is a turner and Pandya is fit to bowl, India may opt to play three spinners by fielding Axar Patel.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is making a return from a hip injury he sustained during the IPL, will lead the pace attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. The veteran pacer will have support at the death from T Natarajan, who is one of the first names on the Indian T20I teamsheet despite having played only 3 games so far.

Yuzvendra Chahal is one player whose spot in the team isn't confirmed. Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy adds an extra dimension to the bowling attack, while Axar Patel could give the batting lineup enviable depth. But the leg-spinner should make the cut thanks to his wicket-taking ability and the trust captain Kohli has in him.

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India's strongest playing XI for the England series: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, T Natarajan