Welcome to the coverage of the second Test between India and West Indies in Hyderabad on Friday.

India, who won the series opener by a record margin of an innings and 272 runs, will once again start as the heavy favourites.

They are looking set for one change as pacer Shardul Thakur will make his Test debut. He was handed his Test cap during the warm up sessions ahead of the start of the game.

Meanwhile, India batted only once in Rajkot, amassing 649 for nine before declaring, and West Indies crumbled under the mountain of runs to lose inside three days.

For West Indies, captain Jason Holder's availability is still doubtful. He is still not 100 per cent fit and their only fast bowler of repute Shannon Gabriel is a doubtful starter for the encounter.

While 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw expectedly hogged the limelight with a smashing ton on debut in  Rajkot, Virat Kohli's innings was a master-class of how to set a different challenge for oneself as a batsman.

An area of concern for India will be vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane's form, who was touted as the best player in overseas conditions back in the 2013-2014 season when he scored 96 at Durban, 118 at Wellington, 103 at Lord's and 145 at Melbourne.

Rahane has gone without a Test hundred for nearly 14 months (his last hundred came against Sri Lanka in August 2017).

India's bowling coach Bharath Arun put up a strong argument for the out-of-form KL Rahul (14 failures in 16 knocks this year).

The decision to play him for this Test is a fair enough indication that India will be looking at the Rahul-Shaw combination going into that first Test against Australia in Adelaide on December 6.

For the West Indies, the aim will to at least put up some fight unlike the Rajkot game where they didn't even last 100 overs across both innings.