Hales, 25, is a regular in the England Twenty20 side but now has the chance to stake his claim for a place in England's squad for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in February.
"Alex Hales will open the batting with me," Cook told a news conference on Sunday ahead of Monday's opening game in Bristol.
Cook believes the explosive, in-form Nottinghamshire opener will bring something different to the England batting line-up.
"What's been pleasing about Alex over the last month is he has scored four hundreds for Nottinghamshire, and at a good rate," he said.
"He's a different batter to the other guys. He hits the ball incredibly hard and he hits it in different areas which is what seems to work really well for him.
"He's done really well in Twenty20 cricket and now he's got the chance in five games to show what he can do in 50 over cricket."
The imposing Hales has been ranked the best Twenty20 batsmen in the world and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni thinks his bold approach and versatility will benefit England.
"The last few times he's played Twenty20, he's shown he's definitely a fantastic batsman," Dhoni said.
"He's a tall guy with excellent reach and he also plays the spinners well. It will be a good acquisition for the English side."
(Reporting By Tom Hayward; editing by Martyn Herman)
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