Mumbai/Calcutta: Uncapped Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur was the surprise pick in India's 17-member Test squad for the tour of West Indies in July-August.

Apart from Thakur, the squad features most of the players who were there in India's last Test series, against South Africa, at home.

Bengal pacer Mohammed Shami, who hasn't played international cricket since March 2015 due to injuries, has also got a place in the squad.

While Virat Kohli is the obvious choice as the captain, e Ajinkya Rahane has been named as his deputy.

The series in the Caribbean is India's first Test assignment since the home Tests against the Proteas in October and November.

Only two changes have been made to squad from that series - fast bowler Varun Aaron and all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann are the players who have been left out.

Thakur, 24, has been impressive in the domestic circuit. In the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy, he was the joint highest wicket-taker, alongside R Vinay Kumar, with 48 wickets in 10 matches. In the last Ranji season, Thakur picked up 41 wickets, the highest for Mumbai, who went on to win their 41st Ranji Trophy title.

Thakur's first-class record reads 133 wickets in 37 matches at an average of 27.53.

Shami, on the other hand, has not played international cricket since the 2015 World Cup semi-final loss against Australia. He underwent a knee surgery and was out of action for a long time. Shami was picked for the ODI and T20I series in Australia in January, but was ruled out after suffering a hamstring injury.

Shami featured in India's World T20 squad but didn't get a chance in the playing XI in any of the matches.

Besides Shami and Thakur, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav are the other pacers in the squad. Ravichandran Ashwin, leg-spinner Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja are the spinners in the squad.