“Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne will be missed”: When Sourav Ganguly tried to put Australia on the backfoot ahead of the 2004 AUS vs IND Test series

The Indian team has won the last two Border-Gavaskar conditions in Australian conditions, but the same was not the case back then as beating Australia in their home conditions is not a cakewalk. In the 2003-04 season, India visited Australia, and it was an iconic series between both sides.

The Australians were called the ‘invincibles’, but India had a great chance in the series as the duo of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath was not available for the initial two Tests of the series. McGrath was nursing an ankle injury, whereas Warne was serving his ban because of the doping incident.

Warne and McGrath are two of the biggest bowlers in the history of Test cricket. Warne finished his career with 708 wickets, and he is the 2nd highest wicket-taker in Tests, whereas, with 563 wickets, McGrath comes at the 6th position.

Sourav Ganguly tried to put Australia on the backfoot ahead of the 2004 AUS vs IND Test series

Sourav Ganguly was leading the Indian side for the Test series, and he tried to pressurize the Australian team by reminding them about the unavailability of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. He said that when both of them missed the match against England, the Australian team struggled a lot without them as they are the major wicket-takers.

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Ganguly although appreciated the backup options of the Australian team, but said that it’s the same situation as Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh missing a Test match in India.

“McGrath and Warney will be missed, no doubt about it. When they didn’t play against England two years ago, Australia suffered in Sydney. They make a huge difference because they pick most wickets or have picked most wickets for their country in the last eight or ten years,” Ganguly had said to the reporters.

“It is like when teams come to India, they find Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh missing from our line-up. They would be missed, but then injury, especially in the case of fast bowlers, is part and parcel of modern cricket.”

Australia certainly missed the services of both of their star players, and the Indian team managed to draw the 4-match series by 1-1. This was certainly a huge achievement at that time. Rahul Dravid was the star batter of the Indian team where he scored 619 runs at 51.45. Anil Kumble was the highest wicket-taker of the series with 24 wickets.