5 Indian players who have a point to prove in upcoming England series
As the upcoming ODI series against England is India's last series in the format ahead of the Champions Trophy, all eyes will be on the players to see who makes it into the squad for this summer's major international tournament.
Despite announcing his retirement from limited-overs captaincy, MS Dhoni's experience and skill with both gloves and bat means that he is certain to make the squad for the tournament in England, others are guaranteed that. There are several players for whom the upcoming limited-overs leg against England will be a make or break series.
Here are five players who will be under the spotlight in the England series and who will have to perform to come out on top in a series that might well decide their future in the format.
Shikhar Dhawan
In 2016, Shikhar Dhawan may have fired in the only ODI series which he played in and finished as India's third-leading run-getter in T20Is but there is no guarantee that he will have a place in the starting XI in India's limited-overs squad.
While Rohit Sharma's absence from the ODI and T20I squad for the England series means that he is likely to play all six matches, he will have to make it count if he is to be assured of a spot in the limited-overs set up. With Rohit already guaranteed of a spot, the other place is a fight between Dhawan, Rahane and KL Rahul who scored a century in all formats in 2016 to see who India's opening pair will be for the Champions Trophy in June.
In the T20I set-up, Shikhar Dhawan's task is made even more difficult with the presence of Rishabh Pant as well, who has been dominating the headlines in domestic cricket and also the ongoing DY Patil T20 Cup. An impressive performance in the England series will however mean that the 31-year-old is all but guaranteed of an opening berth alongside Rohit for the Champions Trophy.