India's predicted playing XI for the ODIs against England

#4 KL Rahul

India seem to struggle to stick with one standard number 4 batsman, having tried various options over the last one year. Southpaw Yuvraj Singh, the experienced Dinesh Karthik, fresh talent such as Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey have all been given a chance, but none of them has been able to make the spot his own.

KL Rahul had been missing from the selectors' radar up until IPL 2018, where he created havoc with the bat. That led to him being included in the T20 squad against England, and he took the opportunity with open arms and slammed his 2nd T20I Hundred. Therefore, at the moment, there is no better number 4 batsman in India than KL Rahul

KL Rahul

#5 MS Dhoni

Number 5 remains MS Dhoni's spot. With his sheer ability to play with the batsmen's minds from behind the stumps and with the bowlers' minds while batting, he is a must for the Indian middle order. With age, his hitting abilities seem to have subsided a bit, but this IPL he showed us that age is just a number.

What we saw at CSK was a batting masterclass from MS Dhoni, who reinvented himself as a batsman, more often than not coming in to bat at number 4 and hammering the bowlers all around the park like vintage MSD. He has proven all his critics wrong by playing some out of the world knocks with some staggering shots, and that is what makes him the ideal number 5 for India.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

#6 Dinesh Karthik

A wicketkeeper batsman who started his career as a top order batsman, Karthik has gone through a lot as a cricketer. He has been in and out of the side after the emergence of MS Dhoni and has failed to cement a place in the XI.

However, over the last one year, he has shown an overall improvement. He first did exceedingly well in the domestic circuit, then got selected in the Indian limited overs and Test sides and then slammed that heroic 29 off 8 deliveries against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final. This is undoubtedly the best phase of his career and he deserves a spot in the playing XIs ahead of Suresh Raina, who has looked off-colour over the past couple of years.

DK has not only proven himself with the bat, but also as a captain of KKR in the IPL, as he gave chances to many uncapped and undiscovered players, and also played some great cameos in the end, making the most of his seemingly fragile KKR side and making it to the top 4. He has proven himself as a finisher and therefore, is the best suited number 6 for India in the absence of Kedar Jadhav.

Dinesh Karthik

#7 Hardik Pandya

Having proven himself time and again as a world class finisher and a fast bowler who can not only bowl those extra overs, but can also play as a full quota bowler for India, Hardik Pandya has come a long way from what he initially was. When he had arrived, he was this thin guy who could slog and hit a few sixes along with bowling a few overs of seam in between. What we see today is a far more matured and developed cricketer who knows how to build an innings along with hitting those biggies and also someone who can bowl a full quota of 10 overs just like a normal fast bowler.

He has played some exhilarating knocks with the bat and also taken crucial wickets, along with being a classy fielder. He has become very very popular among the fans and has lots to offer. He cannot be ignored from any lineup.