KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24: Captain Rahul Dravid blames poor batting for India's failure to reach the final of the DLF Cup and has told his players they need to stop the rot before the Champions Trophy next month.

The dejected Indians left Malaysia with plenty to dwell on after throwing away a chance to beat Australia on Friday – their ninth loss in 10 matches to the world's top team.

It cost them a place in Sunday's one-day final against the West Indies.

“Except for the first match we did not bat well. We will have to individually and collectively think about it,” said Dravid.

“It is important for all of us to be counted. I didn't have a very good tournament. I would be the first one to put my hands up and say I should have performed much better in the tournament,” he said.

“Responsibility starts from the top. I need to bat better and that probably goes down the line. Everyone in the team has to look at how they played in the critical situations,” he said. “We just have to look into how to improve our batting.”

Dravid though was much happier with his bowlers and fielders, and said he would take those positives into their preparations for the Champions Trophy on home soil in October-November.

“In losses like this we tend to forget the positives,” he said.

—AFP