Moeen Ali hit a rapid half century in his first appearance for England in the current Royal London One-Day International Series against India at Edgbaston.
And former England captain Mike Atherton, now working for Sky Sports, believes that Moeen "has done his World Cup chances a power of good."
The Worcestershire all-rounder was called in place of spinner James Tredwell and reached his 50 off just 37 balls.
Moeen, who batted at number seven, reached the landmark in the grand manner with a six over long-on off Suresh Jadeja.
It was the first half century by an England batsman in the series and his second in four ODI appearances for his country.
Moeen had scored 55 on his last ODI appearance in the West Indies in February but was left out of the early season internationals versus Sri Lanka and the previous games against India.
He was eventually bowled for 67 by spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after trying to hit him through the off side.
Atherton said: "Moeen was like a breath of fresh air given the obviouslack of confidence we see in the England middle order. He came in, played beautifully and with great freedom.
"Moeen is fresh to the scene and played beautifully. He came in and played with great freedom as if to say 'why is everyone playing with such a lack of confidence.
"He came in and timed the ball and played with a beautiful natural style we have seen before. He used his feet to the spinners which then forced them to draw back their length. He made it look easy and pretty straightforward.
"He has done his World Cup prospects no harm at all. That is what (head coach) Peter Moores said before the game, that there were places available and nothing is set in stone."
Moeen, who picked up 19 wickets in the Test series against India, came to the wicket at 114-5 in the 33rd over and was quickly into his stride.
A lofted cover drive for four off Dhawal Kulkarni was England's first for 69 deliveries.
He showed his intent by pulling Ashwin for six over the deep square leg boundary and swept Ravindra Jadeja for four backward of square.
Moeen used his feet to strike Ashwin for a straight six after hitting through the line of the ball.
He added 50 in seven overs with Jos Buttler (11) before going to his 50 which contained three sixes and three fours.
Moeen was eventually eighth out at 201-8 and England added only five more runs before being dismissed in the 50th over.
His efforts proved in vain as India romped to a nine wicket win with 19.3 overs to spare. Moeen bowled seven overs for 40 runs.
