Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has refused to protect Gautam Gambhir, admitting that he needs to be blamed for the current affairs in the Test team.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir finds himself in the spotlight over the team's repeated failures in the Test format, especially at home. Of the five Test series that India have played since Gambhir took over the job of head coach from Rahul Dravid, the team has only won one, against West Indies. Against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, India suffered defeats, while the England assignment ended in a draw. Ravi Shastri, who has been in Gambhir's shoes in the past, refused to protect the current coach but asserted the need for players to take more responsibilities, too.

Highlighting India's batting order collapse against South Africa in Guwahati, Shastri said that the team isn't as bad as the Proteas made them look. The players' struggles against spin completely baffled Shastri, as the same batters have been playing spin bowling in home conditions since they started their careers.

"You tell me. What happened in Guwahati - from 100/1, you skip to 130/7 - this team is not that bad either. The team is not that bad; they have enough talent. Therefore, this is where the responsibility must also be taken by the players. You have played spin since childhood," Shastri said in a teaser of a podcast released by Prabhat Khabar.

When asked if he is protecting the India head coach Gautam Gambhir, Shastri denied it. "I'm not protecting [him]. 100 per cent (he is responsible too). If this had happened when I was the coach, I would have taken the first responsibility; I, the coach, would have taken it. But I would not have spared the players inside the team meeting," he said.

A meeting has reportedly been set up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) where coach Gambhir, selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar and a few top officials have been called. While Gambhir's job as Team India's head coach in Tests is safe at the moment, the board has acknowledged that everything isn't right in the way the team is operating at present.