| Event: | ICC World Cup 2006/07 |
Millions of Indians woke up Sunday numbed by their cricket team's shock defeat against Bangladesh that threatens to end their World Cup campaign.
Bangladesh's five-wicket win in Port of Spain on Saturday after bowling India out for a paltry 191 left Rahul Dravid's men red-faced and an entire nation seething in anger.
India must now defeat first-timers Bermuda by a big margin on Monday and wallop powerful Sri Lanka convincingly next Friday to remain in contention for the second round.
"Let's not fool ourselves, India's World Cup is over," said Delhi-based student Venayak Gupta, who stayed up all night to watch the horror show on television.
"Frankly, our overpaid, over-hyped and over-pampered cricketers do not deserve to stay in the tournament."
Cricket legends Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev chose to shower praise on Bangladesh, saying even an experienced team like India can learn from them how to win.
"Let's give credit where it is due -- I think Bangladesh were brilliant out there," Gavaskar said during a review programme on ESPN channel.
"The spinners were outstanding and the way the batsmen responded ... I will not take anything away from them."
Kapil, who captained India's lone World Cup triumph in 1983, said he was "speechless, too ashamed to talk."
"Bangladesh should be complimented for the way they played. India can learn from them how to win," Kapil told AFP.
"Bangladesh played like a team, we did not. It's sad but true."
Kapil was not convinced than an experienced team like India could crawl out of the deep hole it had dug for itself in the tournament.
"I think we should stop talking about teams being better on paper," he said. "Matches are not won on paper.
"What is the use of all this experience if you can't take advantage of it. The seniors have to take some responsibility and I don't think they did that against Bangladesh."
Kapil said India's shock defeat and Ireland's equally stunning win over Pakistan -- which knocked Inzamam-ul-Haq's men out of the World Cup -- proved minnows had a place in the showpiece event.
"Hope no one says now that minnows should not be playing in the World Cup," he said. "No team can be taken lightly in one-day cricket."
Gavaskar reminded Dravid's men that they must go "hammer and tongs" against Bermuda and Sri Lanka in order to qualify for the second round.
"India are down, but they are not out," he said.
Media firms, which had pumped in large sums to build hype around the World Cup to generate advertisement revenue, will be hoping Gavaskar's optimism is proved correct.
Newspapers on Sunday hinted the writing was on the wall even though the time difference with the Caribbean prevented them from reporting the entire match.
The Times of India's front-page displayed two photographs of Indian batsman Virender Sehwag and Pakistan captain Inzamam under the caption: "Mighty minnows put Asian powers on the mat."
"Campaign starts with collapse," screamed the headline in the Hindustan Times. "The World Cup finally began for India, but it might not last too long," wrote the newspaper's correspondent.
The Indian Express said: "Bangladesh grabbed India by the collar, poked a finger in the eyes of some of the world's best batsmen, tore up the elaborate blueprint prepared by coach Greg Chappell and punched an embarrassing dent on the face of the world's richest cricketing outfit."
(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)