For once, bowlers let the team down, rues Dravid

Mohali, Oct 29 (UNI) Knocked out of the Champions Trophy by the Australians, Team India captain Rahul Dravid rued his bowlers, for once, who failed to defend a modest total and let the side down.

Talking to reporters after being shown the door in the tournament, Dravid said, ''Nothing is satisfying when you lose a match. But I still feel 249 was a defendable target. But our bowlers, who have been bowling well so far, for once could not perform well and we let Australia get off to a flier. Early wickets would have done the job for us but full credit to Australia.

''They bowled well, batted well and fielded well too. It was a very professional display by them,'' he said.

Dravid felt his bowling attack lacked experience and said, ''Having (Ajit) Agarkar in the side could have helped us because he is a senior player with a lot of experience.

''Anyway, (S) Sreesanth (injured Agarkar's replacement) bowled well today,'' he added.

Dravid admitted it was upsetting not to reach the semifinals of the tournament.

''We are quite upset because we wanted to reach the semifinals, especially when the tournament is taking place in India,'' he added.

''We did not play well in the last two matches and this defeat gives up another opportunity to review our strategy. We have got the potentials and we have to keep working hard,'' he explained.

Asked if his team was more focused with the World Cup and that came as a distraction, Dravid rubbished the notion and said, ''We are indeed focused on the World Cup but that was not the issue here.'' His Aussie counterpart Ricky Ponting was elated with the team's perfortmance and described it as an all-round show.

''I think despite the lack of experience in the attack, our bowlwers did a good job to restrict India to 249. The pitch was good and they could have scored more.

''In the middle, Brett Lee developed cramps at a stage but still did a pretty job,'' he added.

He also felt that the Indian attack too lacked experience and admitted the Aussie batsmen were careful in their handling of Harbhajan Singh.

''I think we negotiated him quite well,'' he said.

''This is the third time we are entering the semifinals and there can't be any excuse if we lose in the match against New Zealand,'' he added.

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