Rahul Dravid said Andrew Flintoff was "half the England team" after the Lancashire all-rounder returned to wreck his side's hopes of winning the one-day international series on Saturday.
- Images from the match | Scorecard
Flintoff, who will travel to South Africa for the Twenty20 World Cup which starts next week, came through a fitness test on his ankle before taking three wickets to help England seal a 4-3 victory with a crushing win at Lord's.
"He's absolutely critical to England in test or one-day cricket. He is half of their side to be honest," Dravid told reporters after his side's seven-wicket defeat.
"He makes a big difference to England just because of the composition of the team they can put out and with his impact as a first change bowler, slip fielder and batsman. It's pretty obvious to say he makes a huge difference to England."
Flintoff had an injection in his suspect left ankle on Friday and captain Paul Collingwood said they will keep a careful eye on his fitness in South Africa.
"I think he was a little bit sore but he got through his (8.3) overs. We are just going to have to assess how bad it is," Collingwood told reporters.
"Freddie's always willing to bowl. From a captain's point of view you don't want to make anything worse.
"All the time you're asking him if he's okay and he said he was fine, though he's obviously got a bit of soreness there."
Flintoff bowled at full pelt to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid to put England in charge after James Anderson and Stuart Broad impressed with the new ball.
"It always helps when Freddie comes in first change," said Collingwood. "Fred is a massive player for us there's no doubt about it.
"You see the Indian batsmen trying to see off the new ball and then the big fella comes on to bowl 90 miles an hour. It's pretty difficult to play against.
"When he's playing he's two players in one and he's a massive character to have in the dressing room as well. He is a massive part of English cricket and our one-day side."