Perth, Jan 17: Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Test series, the current tour was touted to be India’s best chance of beating Australia Down-under by most experts. But, unfortunately for the visitors, one of the most experienced and well-equipped sides to tour Australia was drummed by a relatively inexperienced home team. After going down 0-3 in the series, India lost the Trophy and came under flak from experts and fans alike. With seven consecutive overseas defeats, India will be playing for pride at Adelaide in the last Test at Adelaide.

“There was a lot of expectation from us on this tour [...] the kind of batting we have, we've let the entire nation down. I don't think things have gone our way but we will hope that we are positive. Hopefully we can turn things around in Adelaide (and) put some smiles on the faces of the people back home. [We] want to take a win going into the ODI series,” Gautam Gambhir said, acknowledging the expectations of the team’s followers.

“Whatever backlash that's happening in India we are ready to accept. We've given opportunity for people to criticize. We have not played well. I'll be the first to accept that. If you want to be the No. 1 Test playing nation you have to start winning overseas whether it is Australia, England or South Africa,” the Indian opener was further quoted as saying by the media.

Speaking about Sachin Tendulkar’s much awaited hundredth ton, he said, “The objective was to win the series. If Sachin scored his 100th 100 and we lost, we would not have been happy.”

On playing in Australia, he explained, “We always knew it was going to be challenging [...] it's a tough place to play cricket. A lot of credit goes to them [Australia]. You should not be hesitant giving credit when they've done well. They've played some very good cricket. As a unit, as a team, they've played good cricket [...] they kept us under pressure and never let us off the hook.”

On VVS Laxman, who has come under a lot if scrutiny and criticism after struggling on the tour, Gambhir said, “Why criticize one person. He's been a legend of the game. Why only VVS? The top seven [batsmen] should be criticized. We all have failed as a unit. He's served Indian cricket for a long long time. No one else should decide when it's best for Laxman to retire. He should make that decision.”