CHENNAI (India), July 5: West Indies captain Brian Lara believes his young team are capable of reaching the levels achieved by the Caribbean side during their glory days in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Our players certainly have the talent and are willing to learn fast,” Lara told reporters on Saturday. “But it will still take us a lot of time to get back to the top.”

West Indies, struggling to arrest their slump in recent years, were hammered 3-1 at home by Australia earlier this year, but managed to pull off a remarkable victory by three wickets in the fourth and final Test.

Lara’s team made the highest-ever fourth innings winning total — 418 for seven — to avoid an unprecedented home whitewash.

West Indies went on to beat Sri Lanka 1-0 at home in a two-Test series last week.

“Our confidence is not borne just out of the win against Sri Lanka, but the way we won that final Test against Australia,” Lara said.

He added that the fast-maturing West Indies team would be in a good position to consolidate their revival when they tour Zimbabwe and South Africa later this year.

“We have the two series coming up and we will have the opportunity to win if we maintain our present form,” he said.

West Indies suffered a 5-0 series whitewash in South Africa four years ago under Lara, who recently said he was keen to wipe out the bitter memory of one of the lowest points of his first stint as captain.

West Indies have been boosted in the last two seasons by the consistency of young batsmen such as Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels, along with the longer established Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar said on Saturday he is back to full fitness after having hand surgery in the United States in April.

The India batsman had the operation to repair a bone injury at the base of his left ring finger, which had been troubling him since the end of 2002.

“I am fully fit now and I am very much looking forward to the New Zealand series,” the 30-year-old Tendulkar told reporters.

Tendulkar, who has been troubled by a series of wear-and-tear injuries in the last few years, had been expected to undergo rehabilitation for over four months following his surgery, but said he felt no discomfort.

A foot injury sidelined him for the 2001 tour of Sri Lanka and an ankle injury during the December-January series in New Zealand kept him out of five one-dayers.

Despite his protracted hand problem, he scored 673 runs at an average of 61.18 to be named player of the World Cup earlier this year, but was then forced to pull out of a one-day tri-series in Dhaka in April.

India’s next major engagement will be their home Test series against New Zealand, which starts in the second week of October.

India will then tour Australia at the end of the year.—Reuters