The demoralising whitewash at the hands of India seems to have shaken the Australian team to the core as stand-in captain Shane Watson said on Sunday it will be a big challenge for them to recover from the reversal.
India recorded a historic 4-0 clean sweep, taking revenge for a similar humiliation Down Under last year.
"The 0-4 margin has been extremely disappointing for us," Watson told reporters at the post-match press conference.
"We came here with high hopes of winning the series but haven't been able to get the desired results. We haven't played our best cricket. It's been a big challenge for Australia to continue to improve and learn very quickly from this defeat," he said.
Watson cited batting failure for the disappointing result and did not spare himself from the blame.
"I haven't scored enough runs. I needed to score more runs but it was disappointing. I have played a lot of cricket here in India during IPL and had knowledge of the conditions here but I failed to score runs myself.
"The top-order did not score enough runs. We haven't performed as a batting unit. Our efforts weren't good enough. I personally take the blame as a leader for not scoring runs." Talking about the 'homework-gate' which led to his axing and three other players for the Mohali Test, Watson said all of them have moved on from that episode.
{{/usCountry}}"The top-order did not score enough runs. We haven't performed as a batting unit. Our efforts weren't good enough. I personally take the blame as a leader for not scoring runs." Talking about the 'homework-gate' which led to his axing and three other players for the Mohali Test, Watson said all of them have moved on from that episode.
{{/usCountry}}"It was rocky for a day but then things got better. Obviously, I wasn't happy with the decision but then we all sat down, had a great chat.
"It was known as Mohali Four. I went home for few days for the birth of my child. We have moved on as a team. It's been amazing to see the whole team coming together and playing as a united group," he said.