India's predicted playing XI for 1st ODI vs England

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Shardul Thakur

Hardik Pandya's bowling form is a big bonus for India.

When Hardik Pandya won the Player of the Series award in the T20I rubber against Australia without bowling a ball throughout, it left Indian fans wondering how much value he could add when his bowling was back. The recent T20I series against England saw Hardik often taking the new ball, bowling economically and picking wickets - on one occasion, conceding runs at a miserly economy of four runs an over. At No. 6, his power-hitting and bowling provide crucial balance to the Indian side that looked out of answers in Australia.

Coming off a fine run of form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy captaining his home side Baroda, Krunal Pandya's all-round performances both domestically and in the IPL could make him the ideal No. 7 for India. The toss-up is likely to be between him and Washington Sundar, who has proven himself with the bat in Tests and the ball in the shorter formats, but is yet to excel with both skills in this format.

The final all-rounder at No. 8 is the ever-reliable Shardul Thakur, who often found a way to get India back into the contest in the games he played over the last year or so. His hitting ability has also improved, meaning India has a good bank of runs even if several of their top order batsmen fail on the given day.

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Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, T Natarajan

Yuzvendra Chahal could be persisted with despite being expensive in the preceding series.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's long-term injury recovery process had left India without a reliably economical bowling option at the top and the death. During the T20I series decider, Bhuvneshwar bowled close to his best, removing the dangerous Jos Buttler to trigger a collapse and conceding just fifteen runs in his quota of four overs. Ten overs from him will surely ensure India chase smaller totals in the ODI series.

With Jasprit Bumrah still on personal leave, left-arm quick T Natarajan should be a shoo-in to the XI, particularly with the pace-bowling reserves of Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj being either inexperienced or unimpressive so far in this format. His left arm angle should also add variety to a right-armer laden pace attack.

Finally, the batting security provided by India's all-rounders might allow Yuzvendra Chahal to get another opportunity. The leggie has had a prolonged lean run, with a few flashes of skill in between, although the tendency to stick with an attacking wristspinner should work in his favour. A failure on his end should see Kuldeep Yadav take his place.