"Playing against Australia has improved our players' performances," said Lara, who arrived amid tight security in the southern Indian city to promote the sport of go-karting.

"We lost both the Test and one-day series against Australia, but we learnt a lot from them. They are a champion side," said Lara, who has scored 8,404 runs with 21 centuries in 96 Tests.

The young West Indies team achieved the incredible in the fourth and final Test against Australia at Antigua in May when they chased a world record 418 in the fourth innings to win the match.

The West Indies then won the last three one-dayers against the World Cup champions before losing the seven-match series 4-3.

Lara's new-look side fared better against Sri Lanka, clinching the two-Test series 1-0 last month.

"We've a good crop of youngsters in the team," he said.

"It's good to have young players around you. They are inexperienced, but talented. Our side is improving."

Lara will launch a go-karting event here on Sunday along with Australian Test skipper Steve Waugh and Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar.

All of them endorse the Indian tyre company MRF on their cricket bats.

Go-karting, a poor cousin of Formula One, is run on 800 cc engines and has become a craze across India.

Meanwhile, Waugh is already in India on a charity tour of Udayan, a home for leprosy-afflicted children on the outskirts of eastern city of Calcutta.

The Australian skipper praised his Indian counterpart Saurav Ganguly for taking the team in the right direction with his aggressive captaincy.

"His (Ganguly's) captaincy has direction and he enjoys his team's respect," Waugh said.

"Captaincy calls for tough decisions and he doesn't go for soft options. Under his captaincy, the boys seem to be enjoying a fight. There's a new toughness in the current Indian side."