Sunil Gavaskar, a former India cricketer, has criticized the Indian team management, emphasizing the importance of pre-tour practice matches in acclimatizing to the conditions and competing against mighty opponents such as Australia.

On Sunday, January 5, India had to give up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which it had held for a decade, as they lost the Sydney Test by 6 wickets and lost the series as well.

Australia won the five-match series 3-1 and qualified for the World Test Championship final against South Africa, which will be held at Lord's on June 11-15. The series failure cost India the opportunity to play three consecutive WTC Finals.

India refused to play any practice games before to the five-Test series, citing the risk of player injuries. They prepped with intra-squad matches, and their victory in Perth raised no questions.

India did play a practice game against Australia's Prime Minister's XI ahead of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, but it was in vain as India lost by 10 wickets in the second Test.

Asked if India should prepare better by playing matches before the tour, Gavaskar said on Star Sports, "Who are we? We don't know cricket. We just speak just for the sake of TV and get money, don't listen to us, we're nothing. Listen from one ear, remove from another."

On Sunday, if India's new Test captain Jasprit Bumrah had been able to bowl despite terrible back spasms, Australia's target of 162 could have been much more difficult. But once great batsman Virat Kohli led the team out, it was apparent as the Sydney skyline that protecting the target would be nearly impossible.

Bumrah was named player of the series after taking 32 wickets in five games. However, it was insufficient to compensate for India's shambolic team performance, which demonstrated resilience only briefly.