Hyderabad: India rested Mohammed Shami and handed a debut to Mumbai fast bowler Shardul Thakur in the second Test against the West Indies here on Friday. The visitors won the toss and opted to bat first.

The Windies were boosted by the return of their captain Jason Holder, who missed the series opener in Rajkot due to injury.

India skipper Virat Kohli said at the toss that Shami was rested and Thakur had come in to make his Test debut. This was the only change for the hosts.

The 26-year-old Thakur has so far played five ODIs and seven T20Is for India. In first-class cricket, the right-arm paceman has taken 188 wickets from 55 matches.

The visitors made two changes with Holder taking Keemo Paul’s place while left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican replaced Sherman Lewis.

In the first Test, India routed West Indies by an innings and 272 runs and are again overwhelming favourites to wrap up the series 2-0.

Playing XIs

India: Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur.

West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Sunil Ambris, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wicketkeeper), Jason Holder(captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jomel Warrican, Shannon Gabriel.