Five most inspiring Indian performances in Australia

#3 Sourav Ganguly’s masterclass of 144 runs at the Gabba: 2003-04

Sourav Ganguly

The Brisbane Cricket Ground at Woolloongabba enjoys the reputation of being Australia’s fortress. It had become a routine for the Australian team to trounce the opposition at Gabba in the very first Test of the series and push the opposition on the backfoot straightaway. The 2003-04 series was no different and India faced a green-top deck in its opening Test.

Fortunately, Sourav Ganguly won the toss for India and inserted Australia to bat first. Pace bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar exploited the conditions effectively and shared all wickets between them. Langer’s 121 at the top helped the home side post 324 runs in the first inning.

India enjoyed a solid opening partnership as Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag posted 60 without any loss. Nathan Bracken and Jason Gillespie killed the advantage of the batting side as they struck thrice. When Sourav Ganguly faced his first ball, the team was struggling at 62/3 with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar both dismissed.

The Indian captain played the inning of his life to take his side into a position of strength. Ganguly’s 144 was then the highest score by an Indian skipper in Australia. The inning helped his team salvage a draw and remain alive in the series. Later Dravid’s epic batsmanship in Adelaide carried India to a miraculous away win as the Asian giants equalled the series.