With India facing another overseas whitewash, Ravichandran Ashwin says that the team tried their best, but somehow things did not go according to the plan.

The off-spinner also hoped that the upcoming ODI tri-series might bring a change of luck.

"We tried our best and it has not come out well, so we have to think what's gonna happen at home, can't really do anything at the present," Ashwin insisted.

"We always stumbled on a roadblock when we got the three wickets and could not get the fourth quickly enough to attack and attack as a whole. We have gone into a break and have not been able to come back and really seize the initiative," he said.

"Every thing is gonna start afresh. It is going to be a different ball game. The colour of the ball also changes. So hopefully we can change our luck as well," Ashwin said while referring to the upcoming three-nation ODI series.

Set a daunting target of 500, India were left in tatters with six of their top batsman in the hut with just 166 on the board and a complete day's play left.

Ashwin, however, said the team tried their level best but could not rewrite the script.

Disappointed, not embarrased

The tweaker reiterated that it was not correct to say that the team has been embarrassed and insisted he would rather term the onslaught as a huge disappointment.

"Embarrassment is not the right word. It would be nice if you could rephrase it. Nobody has fooled or cheated anyone. We are extremely disappointed and that's probably is the word I can use," said Ashwin after India ended the fourth day of the final Test in Adelaide.

"It's only a sport. At the end of the day, we have competed hard, it's not that we have chucked it away. Yes, we came down short on occasions but there were moments which we could have seized and it would have looked different.

"We have not seized the initiative and there hasn't been enough in the bank to do it," he added.

So poor was India's batting that towards the close that Australia had nine fielders posted close to the bat with off-spinner Nathan Lyon operating.

"We can put up a challenge to a spinner even if nine fielders are around. When things are going right, you could do anything and pull the rabbit out of the hat. Yes, we have succumbed as a whole and we don't have an answer to that. Probably some other time, we could have replied to that."

Ashwin was also unmindful of the backlash the team could face from fans back home.

"We never have had that at the back of our minds. If you are going to think what's going to happen, it doesn't work like that in life. We just tried our best and it hasn't gone our way."

Ashwin wasn't prepared to anoint Australia as the world's best yet.

"We have seen in the last one year, teams are increasingly getting stronger at home. Under sweltering heat and lack of bounce, we might fancy ourselves. A team has to do really well and perform all over the place."

India's batting has come in for severe criticism for its performance but Ashwin wanted to blame everyone and not just the batters.

"It's a team game and should be thought of as such. If we have failed, we have failed as a unit. If batsmen haven't got runs, they haven't given enough time for bowlers to recover.

"If the bowlers haven't done well, they haven't given enough for the batsmen in the dressing room. We failed as a unit."

There was a belief that with the batters failing constantly, India could have reshuffled the batting order.

"I really don't belong to the top seven. I was always at number eight, so my duty was always to keep one end and post some score on the board for the bowlers to really work in case there was a trouble or slump.

"This wicket looked flat and we thought we would bat really well here. I feel awkward to give excuses. At the end of the day, things didn't go our well... if we had runs on the board, things could have looked a little different. But you can't rewrite the script, can you?"

Ashwin, who took two for 72 in Australia's second innings, felt he had bowled well in the series.

"There have been phases when I've bowled well. I wouldn't say I didn't have much luck, but we always stumbled on a roadblock.

"With due credit, just a couple of players have used their feet very well. In Australian conditions with the Kookaburra ball, even if you deceive them in the flight, they go through with shots."

Ashwin has often faced media on this tour while the seniors have avoided facing the heat. But the youngster was prepared to take up this new role manfully.

"If that's what is required of me (to attend press conferences), if this is also a role I have to play as a cricketer, I definitely have to play it. If it is for the team, I am ready to take it."