India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said he is sick of making excuses for his side's failed tour of Australia.
With his side reduced to 166-6 chasing an improbable 500 for victory after day four of the fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval, Ashwin is well aware India have underperformed throughout the tour having already conceded the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and they are close to losing the series in a whitewash.
"A team that wants to count themselves to be on top of the world has to really perform all over the place, so there are no excuses for this," he said.
"Whatever we've tried to put forward hasn't gone our way. It's been quite disappointing."
"You can't re-write the script can you ... I really feel very awkward to keep giving excuses."
Ashwin was quoted earlier in the Test saying that India should not be embarrassed by their performance, but he rightly put his stance into context.
"The word embarrassment is really not the right word because nobody has done anything faulty; we have not fooled or cheated anybody," he said.
"Extremely disappointed ... but there is no need for embarrassment."
"It's a sport and at the end of the day we have all competed hard on the ground - it's not like we have just chucked it away, we've given it everything we've had."
Ashwin - playing just his fifth Test - has become India's unofficial spokesperson when it comes to summarising the side's disappointing performances to the press.
The tall spinner, 25, has regularly been summoned to front up each evening after the close of play to reporters - while the seniors in the side kick back their heels in the dressing room.
Sachin Tendulkar has yet to speak to the media since the Indian team landed in Australia despite being the obvious star attraction.
India have copped criticism for this as well as their below-par performances on the park, but Ashwin refuses to lay the blame purely on the tourists' elder statesmen.
"It's a team game and I've never, ever insisted (otherwise)," he said.
"Even when I talk to the little kid on the street, I've always insisted it's a team game and should be taught that way."
"If we have failed, we have failed as a unit."
"If the batsmen haven't got runs, they've not given enough time for the bowlers and if the bowlers haven't got the wickets quickly, they've not given enough time for the batsmen back in the dressing room."
"We've tried our best and it's not gone our way. We've not seized the initiatives and we've not had enough reserves in the bank."
"We have failed as a unit."