An important step forward, but don146;t overreact

Team India8217;s series win at Sabina Park has also brought some much-needed Caribbean comfort for coach Greg Chappell after the disappointing losses against Pakistan and England. The Aussie presents his report card:

Skipper, awesome

Awesome. His performance on the tour was outstanding, particularly in this Test match. He is continuously striving to get better, when he got out in the first innings he did not complain abut the wicket, he just said I should have been forward 8212; it shows the mindset of the individual wanting to get better and better. For our young batsman to have that as an example in this Test was just fantastic, we couldn8217;t have had a better example of commitment, application, determination, patience and technique to cope with the difficult conditions than we saw from our captain. History will show that he is one of the best players for anyone. Forget India, anywhere any time, he makes runs and does it consistently.

Plus point 1: Young fast bowlers

The fact that we have been able to win the Test series with three young fast bowlers is a great credit to them 8212; the way they have learned quickly, the way they have developed, the way they have adjusted to the different conditions and demands of Test cricket is heartening. To win Test matches anywhere, you need good pace bowlers. With the four young fast bowlers on this tour, we have got the variety, and the depth to look forward with some confidence to playing cricket anywhere that is a wonderful step forward.

Plus point 2: Team8217;s resilience

The resilience of the group is what impressed me. It8217;s a tough tour, far from home. The one-day series did not go our way, the first three Tests were tough and it could do easily have gone down from there. But the team hung on.

But lessons to learn

We have learned some valuable lessons on the tour. Some of these guys have been around for a few years but haven8217;t played a lot of Test cricket. We have to be careful, not to expect players to do well immediately. It takes 20-30 Test matches to take a player to really understand what Test cricket is all about and what the demands are and how different they are from one-day cricket. It8217;s all part of the job that we coaches have to do expanding their mind as much as their body to cope with Test cricket.

And please don8217;t overreact

It was great to think that this team has done something which no other Indian team has done for 35 years, but I have been around in Test cricket for long enough to know that you can8217;t overreact to anything good or bad. It8217;s a good step forward, it8217;s part of the development of Rahul Dravid8217;s team. We are becoming a good Test playing team but we still have a lot of work to do. We are on the way to becoming a great Test match team and this is a important step in that, nothing more, nothing less.