March 25, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1428

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PORT-OF-SPAIN, March 24: India skipper Rahul Dravid said he was willing to take full responsibility for his team's miserable World Cup campaign.

“I am not sitting here and trying to shirk responsibility. I am the first one to stand up and say that we should have done better and it starts with me,” said Dravid.

The loss means India are left hoping that a hapless Bermuda can beat Bangladesh here on Sunday to hand them a World Cup lifeline.

“I am not trying to put the responsibility on anyone. Until about 24 hours ago, I truly believed that we would still be in this tournament. I take full responsibility for the fact that we haven't progressed to the next round.”

It was India's worst performance in the event since the 1979 World Cup in England. They were the champions in 1983, semi-finalists in 1987 and 1996, and runners-up in 2003.

Sri Lanka qualified for the next Super Eight stage with an all-win record, while Bangladesh are on the verge of making it to the next round.

Despite the loss, Dravid would not speculate on his future.

“I was appointed captain till the World Cup. So, I am not even the captain at this point of time. It's not my decision to make,” said Dravid, whose side won just one of their three games, against Bermuda.

Dravid said he was hugely disappointed with his team's virtual exit from the tournament as they had prepared well.

“It's very disappointing. It's not a nice thing to lose in the early part of the World Cup. We have invested a lot of time and effort in it and it has not gone our way,” he said.

“It's a big event and you really want to do well, but sports is like that.Sometimes, your best plans and all your ideas just don't work. We did not play well in this tournament and did not deserve to go into the second round.”Dravid said the players were disappointed because they had worked hard for the event.

“Nobody realises the enormity of the defeat than the players themselves. The players are the ones who put in a lot of time. They worked really hard for this. It is an opportunity they get once in four years,” he said.

“It is something that you really look forward to in your career. So no-one understands the enormity of this more than the players. Definitely, there is a lot of introspection and disappointment in the dressing-room.

“It's a lot of their dreams, a lot of their hopes that go into tournaments like this. When it doesn't work out, they feel more than anyone else.”

Dravid conceded that his team's five-wicket defeat in the opening game against Bangladesh affected their chances of making it to the second round.

“We had a bad game against Bangladesh where we did not really bat well upfront. That sort of put pressure on us. Today again, we did not play well enough,” he said.

“The way the tournament is structured you have one banana skin game and you can be out of the tournament quite quickly. In the first game against Bangladesh, we did not play anywhere near our potential.

“In a tournament like this, you have one bad day and you could be in big trouble and that's what happened to Pakistan and India.”

Pakistan have already been knocked out of the competition after winning just one of their three matches in Group D in Jamaica.—AFP