India lost by 341 runs, their second-biggest defeat, at Karachi on Wednesday when they were bundled out for 265 after being set an improbable 607-run target.

"India's famed batting line-up caved in abysmally to give Pakistan a win that looked impossible on the first day," Gavaskar wrote in his Hindustan Times column after India's 1-0 defeat in the series.

"When India dismissed Pakistan for just 245 after the run deluge in the first two (drawn) Tests, it did look possible for them to go on and win the third Test and with it the series."

Gavaskar said India were let down by their vaunted batsmen after left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan had grabbed a hat-trick in his first over on the opening day to send Pakistan tottering at 39-6 at one stage.

"If the Indians had seized the initiative from that great first-over hattrick by Pathan, they were let down by their more renowned batsmen who hardly batted with any determination," said Gavaskar.

Pakistan then rode on wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal's fighting century to post 245 in their first innings before dismissing India for 238 for a slender lead.

Gavaskar said attacking batting was not always the best way for a team to pull itself out of trouble.

"For far too long, there have been the so-called experts who have been talking about how attacking batting is the only way to win," said Gavaskar, the first batsman to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket.

"In Test cricket one cannot just blaze away, especially not when there is something in the wicket (for bowlers). The complete absence of a defensive mechanism means that there is little hope of survival."

Former Pakistani batting great Javed Miandad said India lost the decisive Test even before it had begun.

"I cannot help but feel that India lost the Karachi Test even before a single ball was bowled," Miandad wrote in the Indian Express.

"The men in their team whose job is to put runs on the board saw the (seamer-friendly) wicket and decided that they were not going to succeed on it," he said.

"The negativity of the Indian batsmen was evident in both innings as they chose not to use their feet and allowed the Pakistani bowlers to get them out.

"You cannot score runs in Test cricket if you 'wait' for them rather than 'score' them. I would not have minded India losing by lunch or tea time on the fifth day, but to lose 10 wickets in less than 60 overs was deplorable."