India's possible T20I XI to face England

Middle-order

India will go into the series with a formidable middle-order spearheaded by the world's best batsman, Virat Kohli. The Indian skipper had a memorable 2016 in this format and will look to continue from where he left off last year. It won't be surprising if the Delhi batsman opens the batting with Pant and moves Rahul to number 4, something the duo have done with their IPL team, Royal Challengers Bangalore.

This will also allow Suresh Raina, who comes back into the T20I side after being dropped for the ODIs, to bat at No. 3, a position in which the left-hander has excelled in T20s in the past. If Rahul opens with Pant, Raina will bat at number 6 allowing Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni to `bat at number 4 and 5.

A lot of questions arose over the selection of Yuvraj in the ODIs and T20Is, but the dashing southpaw from Punjab silenced all the critics by scoring a match-winning 150 in the second ODI at Cuttack. He was well backed by former skipper MS Dhoni, who scored a solid 134. Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina batting at 4,5 and 6 will give a stability to the Indian middle order in the shorter formats. Dhoni will don the wicketkeeper gloves ahead of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.