India vice-captain Rahul Dravid promised fans that the team will not get "overawed" by the reputation of the Australians in the Test series which begins at the Gabba on Thursday.
"They are the number one side and therein lies the opportunity for us. We have a chance to show we can compete; there's no point getting overawed," Dravid told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday.
"They are a tough side and if you are going to match them over a course of a four-Test series, then you have got to have belief and confidence and fight through tough times.
"There would be tough days on the tour. Hopefully, we could keep our chin up and keep fighting right through the tour," said Dravid, nicknamed 'The Wall' for his strong defence.
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Dravid sought to underplay the reputation of the world champions and termed it as no different tour than they have undertaken in recent times.
"I don't see it as a last frontier. Indeed, we have a lot of frontiers to cross. We have a lot of challenges to meet and we see this tour as one of those challenges. It's no different than any other tour," said Dravid.
India have won only six of their last 67 Tests abroad and only three of the 27 games they have played in Australia, their last win Down Under coming 22 years ago in Melbourne during the 1980-81 tour.
Dravid remembers all too well that he was a flop on the last tour to Australia. He made just 93 runs from six innings but does not want to get into a mindset where he would look to prove a point.
"[On the last tour] I just wasn't batting well. When you are not batting well against very good bowlers, then they make you pay. They punished me last time simply because I wasn't playing good cricket," he said.
"But I am not out here to make any points. I am just out to play good cricket. I am going to try and repeat what I have done over the last couple of years. I want to try and do the basics right."
Dravid has enjoyed an extremely successful last two years, scoring four centuries on the trot in 2002. He began this season with a double century against New Zealand in the Ahmedabad Test.
The vice-captain also disagreed that India had not done too well in the lead-up games to the series and termed it a good opportunity for the team's pacemen to do well on bouncy Australian wickets.
"It was a good preparation for us in two games. We made a few runs and took a few wickets. Most of the guys had a good hit in the middle, spent time and had a good bowl. Touring teams do a lot of mixing and matching in three-day games and we were no different.
"Our fast bowlers, I am sure, would be looking at the opportunity to bowl on these kind of wickets. In the end, they might be young and inexperienced but we believe they are talented. It's a great opportunity for them to show they could bowl in the right areas," he said.
