Brisbane, Nov 28: Indian captain Sourav Ganguly today sought to put the mighty Australians on the backfoot ahead of the four-match Test series, saying the hosts will miss the services of Glenn Mcgrath and Shane Warne who make a "huge difference" to the team. "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 said.

"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," Ganguly said on the eve of their three-day match against Queensland. Fast bowler Mcgrath, nursing an ankle injury, has ruled himself out of the first two Tests while spin wizard Shane Warne is serving a year's ban for testing positive for a banned drug just before the World Cup in South Africa earlier this year.

Ganguly, hoping to beat the Australians on their soil, however, said the home side's back-up bowling has enough firepower to Test the best line-up in the world.

Bureau Report