India coach Ravi Shastri is paying no attention to critics in his home country, accusing his detractors of "firing blanks" ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
Shastri and captain Virat Kohli faced significant criticism after Australia won the second Test in Perth by 146 runs to level the series.
India's decision to select Umesh Yadav as a fourth quick to replace injured spinner Ravichandran Ashwin backfired badly when man of the match Nathan Lyon claimed eight wickets for the match to spin Australia to victory.
Many commentators were baffled that India had overlooked left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja - a situation clarified on Sunday when Shastri revealed the allrounder had been battling soreness after having an injection in his shoulder.
The combative coach snapped back at his critics, including former skipper Sunil Gavaskar who said India's recent history of "selection blunders" would put Shastri and Kohli in the firing line if Australia went on to win the series.
"When you're millions of miles away it's very easy to fire blanks," Shastri told reporters.
"They're too far away. We're in the southern hemisphere."
Ashwin remains in a race against time to play at the MCG with India also weighing up whether to fast-track pace-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya into their XI.
The world's No.1 ranked Test team claimed solitary victories in England and South Africa this year but lost both series and will be desperate to avoid a repeat of that outcome in Australia.
"Third time lucky. That's all I'll say," Shastri quipped.
"It's not often that you find a team these days when they travel overseas where it's 1-1 in a series with two matches to go.
"So the boys know what they can do, what they're capable of and the potential that lies ahead."
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