India vs England: How England might line up for the first T20I

England are playing the most explosive white-ball cricket in the world right now. They have attacking batsmen, reliable all-rounders, and wicket-taking bowlers, all essential components of a successful white-ball team.

However, due to the wide variety of options available at their disposal, the management is likely to have more than a few selection headaches, especially in the batting department given how much all of their batsmen enjoyed playing in the series against Australia.

This slideshow looks at the probable 11 of the English team for the first T20 against India.

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Openers: Jos Buttler and Jason Roy

Paul Farbrace, England's coach for this series, has confirmed that Jos Buttler, given the sublime touch that he is in at the moment, will open the batting. He has played and dominated the Indian bowlers in this year's edition of the IPL and that will give Buttler a lot of confidence, and will also make him an invaluable asset to have at the top of the order. However, while he may be able to perform against India's seam bowlers, the real challenge for him - and the entire England batting line-up - will be facing India's wrist-spinners who are wreaking havoc in all parts of the world.

Jason Roy, too, has been in good form of late, scoring two centuries in the ODI series against Australia. While he did struggle in the IPL in Indian conditions, the conditions in England could not be better for a batsman like him at the moment, and he will be looking to capitalise on that. How he plays against Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will be interesting to see as well.

Even though the English conditions may not necessarily be in the spinners' favour, they have shown that they have the capability and the skills to perform in unfavourable conditions, such as in South Africa, and more recently, in Ireland. Conversely, these two batsmen will go hard at the wrist-spinners, so it will also be interesting to see how they can cope up with that.

Middle-order: Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root

Given the emphasis on India's spinners, the middle order will play the most crucial role for England, as these are the batsmen that will be tasked with getting England through the middle overs when India's wrist-spinners are bowling.

Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow pick themselves in the team, especially the latter. Bairstow has suddenly found a new gear to his game, and has become an extremely explosive batsman, as many would have witnessed in the recently concluded series against Australia.

While he does not have substantial experience in T20 internationals, his generally imperious form and explosive batting is still bound to send a few shivers up the Indian camp. Hales, on the other hand, is an experienced T20 campaigner who has played a significant number of T20 internationals and has had several successful stints in T20 leagues around the world.

While critics may argue that Root does not have a place in this explosive T20 line-up, his stabilising influence and ability to play in the middle overs, particularly against spin, will be critical to England's success in this series. Further, the coach Paul Farbrace has all but confirmed that Root will be on the team sheet for the T20s against India.

Lower-middle order: Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali

Eoin Morgan, the England captain, finds himself batting slightly lower than usual, but he has, on many occasions, shown that he has the ability to finish the innings off with a bang, so he should suit into this position perfectly. While he may not have accumulated large amounts of runs in the series against Australia, he did showcase his ability to finish the innings off on a few occasions, so there should be no worries about his form.

Moeen Ali's batting and bowling is a key component of the balance of this English side. With the bat, he can be used as a floater and be sent in at whatever position he needs to, according to the situation at that time. He is an extremely explosive batsman, and he, along with Morgan, will be tasked with the duties to finish the innings, especially considering the fact that Buttler is batting up the order.

Bowlers: David Willey, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, and Chris Jordan

David Willey and Adil Rashid, in addition to being extremely handy lower order batsmen, are two bowlers that are key to England's success in this series. Willey is England's only genuine swing bowler, and given that India's top order has struggled against the likes of Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Trent Boult, and other left-arm swing bowlers in the past, he will be looking to expose that chink in their armour. Rashid is the team's front-line spinner, and he will be looking to expose India's fragile middle-order with his guile, deception, and variations.

Since his recall to the side in 2016, Plunkett has been ever so reliable, both in ODIs and T20s. He, along with Chris Jordan, will be asked to shoulder the team's death bowling responsibilities against an explosive Indian batting line-up. While both Plunkett and Jordan are genuine wicket-takers, both of them have the propensity of being expensive on occasions. However, given the depth of this English side, they have more than enough bowlers to cover-up in case one of them is having an off-day.