During the 1975 Prudential World Cup in England, Alvin Kallicharan blasted Australia's feared fast bowler Dennis Lillee for 24 runs in an over during his whirlwind innings of 78. The West Indies scored 195 for 3 in reply to Australia's meagre total of 192 all out and won the match by seven wickets.

That knock may well adorn the pages of history, but 'Kalli' insists that the only way to win against the Aussies is to "take the game to them".

He was part of the great West Indies teams of the mid-1970s and played with an attacking relish that had spectators baying for more.

"You have to be positive. Any negativity means defeat," says Kallicharan, in a response that is typical of his attitude on the cricket field.

"On my first tour there, we got hammered 5-1, but we always looked to go out there and be positive. The results showed later, as we started to get the better of them in the next few series. You have to know that you can score runs against them. We attacked so we knew that they could be beaten."

But he cautioned: "There is no weak Australian team. Whether they are missing players or not, they look to win; they play to win. To beat them you have to be 150 per cent on top of them."

Kallicharan feels it is vital for the big guns to do well if India is to stand a chance in the upcoming series given the team's apparent weakness of the bowling.

"Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have the class and technique to survive at the wicket and it is a given fact that if they survive they will score runs. India needs them to bat well," he said, adding the luck of the underdog, though, might favour the Indians.

"India has been written off even before the tour starts, which is not fair on the part of the media. Though it's good to start as underdogs, you cannot deny the fact that it definitely plays behind your mind.

"Well, Australia is a tough team to beat. If I were to predict the score line then that would have been great, but, unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. But I would tell you that Australia is playing one of their Test matches at Brisbane. It is greener and fresher there. The toss will be a key factor in the match.

"India if it bats first they will have to score more than 300 runs. And the key batsmen -- Tendulkar, Dravid, V V S Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly -- will have to live up to their reputation."

'Kalli' was a technically correct batsman who played with all the exuberance that West Indians are famous for. And he played the short ball particularly well. Never afraid to hook or pull, he was a dangerous batsman when he got going.

"The secret of playing the short ball," he says, "is to play it or leave it. On the faster pitches of Australia you have to decide quickly and make sure that you are not caught in two minds. That is where the Indians get into trouble a lot.

"The Indians are up against the best in the world and they will have to give everything on the tour of Australia. If they manage to come out of the tour with the score-line reading 2-0 in Australia's favour, they would have done well."