Former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shahstri have expressed their astonishment at the manner in which India capitulated in the just-concluded four-match Test series against England.

"It was very disappointing. Everybody though it would be a great series, but it was an abject surrender," Gavaskar, who is part of the ESPN-Star Sports commentary team, said.

Gavaskar felt India, who came into the series as the number one team, did not live upto their billing.

"This was not the way a number one team plays. They normally lose by close margins, not like this," he added.

"Maybe the approach was wrong and the attitude wasn't there."

Gavaskar's colleague in the commentary box, Shastri attributed the drubbing to a combination of factors.

"It was a combination of a lot of factors -- injuries, lack of form. But this is a rude wake-up call," Shastri said.

The former all-rounder, however, expressed hope of a revival.

"Tough guidelines should be in place, and we should have a core group of players for all three formats of the game. You might not always have desirable stories but that's the way forward. That way, Indian cricket could get back on track in 6-8 months." he said.