4 things India can gain from the two-Test series against West Indies

It isn't often that a team plays a lot less at home and spends the bulk of the time abroad. India have been at the receiving end of such a schedule in 2018, which has seen them spend more time on overseas shores than at home.

After two gruelling tours in South Africa and England, they are back on home turf, to face the Windies in a two-Test series- the only pair they will get before taking on Australia on their home base in December.

While it is only a two-Test series against an opponent ranked eighth in the world in Test cricket, India have a few cracks which require smoothening before hitting Australian shores and here are four things they can gain from this series:

#4 The wicket-keeping solution

Midway through the five-match Test series against England, India were forced to swap Dinesh Karthik with Rishabh Pant, owing to the former's lack of contribution with the bat in hand.

While Pant made up for that later in the series by making his maiden his Test hundred, his wicket-keeping left a lot to be desired as was evident from the number of byes that were given away.

The two-Test series offers him an opportunity to show that in the time between England and now he has worked a bit on his keeping and if either of the two pitches do have good bounce, then it will serve as a challenging curtain-raiser before the tour of Australia in December.

#3 The dawn of a new era in India's opening batting hierarchy?

Will Prithvi Shaw's Test career start off on a positive note?

Over the course of the last five years and more, India's opening duo has consisted of either Shikhar Dhawan or Murali Vijay or both.

For the first time since the Nagpur Test of 2012 against England will neither feature in the starting line-up at the top of the order. This after both were omitted from the squad and teenage sensation Prithvi Shaw and Karnataka run-glutton Mayank Agarwal were drafted into the side.

In a never-seen-before practice, the team management decided to unveil the final 12 players who will have a chance to form the playing XI and it was all but confirmed that Shaw will open with KL Rahul in the game starting on Thursday.

Will Shaw's arrival be the start of a new era in the pantheon of India's top order batting? Only time will tell.

#2 The reliable middle-order batsman

Vihari will hope to get a chance in the second game at Hyderabad

India's top-order may look unsettled, but their Number 3, 4 and 5 batsmen have been a part of the side for several years and look certain to feature in a few more series. Often under Kohli's captaincy, India have tended to play 5 proper batsmen, followed by the gloveman and the all-rounder who are succeeded by the bowlers.

However, they went against that norm in the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval when to opted to play the extra batsman by handing a debut cap to Hanuma Vihari in place of Pandya.

It does seem like for the first Test at Rajkot they would play minus the additional batsman, perhaps at Hyderabad, they could try a different combination and see which fits well.

#1 The spin combination?

Ashwin's role with the ball will be vital

Barring the second Test at Lord's, India opted for the single-spinner policy in each of the remaining four matches in England.

Having picked three spinners for this series, it will be interesting to see which pairing they opt for in this series which could give a better idea on who could be a certainty for the series against Australia in December.