India's 5 biggest defeats under Rahul Dravid's captaincy

#4 Against Australia in Nagpur (2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy)

Australia hammered the hosts by 342 runs to win a series on Indian soil after 35 years

By the time they arrived in Nagpur, the Indian team were truly up against it. The Australians had surged to a 1-0 lead. When the third Test began, the hosts needed to avoid defeat in order to protect 'The Final Frontier'.

While regular skipper Ricky Ponting continued to be unavailable due to a broken thumb, India were dented ahead of the match as their captain Sourav Ganguly pulled out with a supposed 'groin injury'. Murmurs began to float of the left-hander escaping an unusually green-tinged surface in the guise of injury. The mystery remains unsolved till date.

Buoyed by a seam-friendly surface which was apparently a by-product of an alleged tiff between VCA and BCCI, Australia batted with conviction and amassed a formidable first-innings total. With the exception of Mohammad Kaif, none of the Indian batsmen could front up to the challenge posed by Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie. After deciding against enforcing the follow-on, the Aussies piled on the runs and left India with an insurmountable chase. The visitors wrapped up a clinical 342-run triumph to secure an unassailable series lead.

Brief Scores: Australia - 398 (Damien Martyn 114, Michael Clarke 91, Zaheer Khan 4/95) & 329/5 declared (Simon Katich 99, Martyn 97); India - 185 (Mohammad Kaif 55, Jason Gillespie 5/56) & 200 (Virender Sehwag 58, Gillespie 4/24)

Result - Australia won by 342 runs

Watch Australia's series-sealing triumph in Nagpur