India set to make an early exit from the World Cup

The image and financial credibility of ‘Team India’ suffered a huge blow on Friday, as the men in blue failed to live up to the hopes of the billion fans and virtually crashed out of the most prestigious event of Cricket.

India, who was being considered as one of the favorites for this World Cup could not deliver even one satisfactory performance in West Indies. The only victory they managed was against the part-time players of Bermuda.

In the most crucial match, India failed to chase a target of 255, set by the Sri Lankans, with the famed Indian batting line-up bowled out at 185. Captain Rahul Dravid top scored for India with 60 followed by Virender Sehwag who managed to get to 48.

After the murky performance, the Indians were left weeping and praying for an unlikely defeat for Bangladesh in Sunday's final group game against Bermuda. But with the way Bangladesh has been performing of late, it seems Team India should already be packing their bags.

Coach Greg Chappell is only too apprehensive about the reaction of the fans in the cricket-crazy country, as people resorted to violence after the team's shock defeat to Bangladesh last week.

"In the light of recent incidents, you've got to be concerned," Chappell told a news conference.

"Again, when India wakes up tomorrow they will be disappointed. There will probably be many of them who will be angry with what has happened. (But) I hope people realize that it is just a game.” He refused to blame anyone for the team’s poor performance.

Not many had expected that the 1983 champions and 2003 runners-up, with the most-feared batting line, would crash out this soon but Chappell said India had a history of failing in major one-day events overseas.

Captain Rahul Dravid said, after playing such poor cricket his team did not deserve to qualify for the next round but he hoped the reaction back home would not pose problems for his players on their return.

"I hope that the players won't be under any physical danger," he said. "I don't expect that to be the case to be honest. People will be disappointed and that is fair enough. They had invested a lot of hope in this team and we haven't delivered."

This defeat probably means that World-Class players like Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Anil Kumble might have to end their careers without a World Cup medal.

India wakes up in disappointment today while the team prepares to head back.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka: 254 for six wickets in 50 overs

India: 185 all out in 43.3 overs