Australia's pacemen say dismissing star Indian batsman VVS Laxman will be crucial to defeating India at home in the upcoming four-match Test series.

The stylish right-hander has scored at an average of 63.52 runs per innings against Australia since 1998.

Australian paceman Brett Lee told reporters that former captain Steve Waugh had once said: "If you get Rahul Dravid out, it's fantastic. If you get (Sachin) Tendulkar out, you're ecstatic. But if you get Laxman out, it's either a mistake or a miracle."

Tendulkar is one of the world's top two batsmen. The International Cricket Council recently named Indian vice-captain Dravid the Test cricketer of the year.

Lee, one of the world's fastest bowlers, said he rated Laxman as the next Tendulkar.

He said the key to getting Laxman or Tendulkar out during the series was to keep it simple.

"If you try and have super-duper planning against Laxman or Tendulkar, it won't work," Lee said.

"It's all about coming back to the basics. It's an old cricket thing: if he misses, you hit."

Laxman scored two centuries in India's last tour of Australia in 2003-2004, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Australian veteran fast bowler Glenn McGrath agreed that Laxman "is a guy whom we really want to get on top of, but I think our game plan will be better this time."

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