Port of Spain (Trinidad), March 24 (IANS-CMC) An emotional India captain Rahul Dravid said Friday's loss to Sri Lanka in their final Group B match of the World Cup was a huge disappointment for his team and one of the low points of his career.

"It is huge disappointment and all of us are very disappointed. I have played in three World Cup tournaments and this is definitely my worst," Dravid said.

"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. It's a big event and you really want to do well. Sports is like that, sometimes your best plans and all your ideas just don't work.

"Nobody realises the enormity of the defeat than the players. The players are the one who put in a lot of time. They worked really hard for this. It is an opportunity they get once in four years.

"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."

Dravid, who top-scored with 60 in India's dismal reply of 185 to Sri Lanka's 254 for six, said India's much vaunted batting line-up had failed to deliver the goods.

"Batting is our strength and there was nothing in the wicket to stop from getting 255," Dravid lamented.

"It was achievable but we failed to put together a substantial partnership and kept losing wickets regularly.

"I think we had the extra batsman. We lost wickets at regular intervals. We needed one big partnership but did not get that. We definitely should have made a much better chase of it than we did in the end."

Dravid said India's build-up to the tournament had been a good one but the shocking loss to Bangladesh last Saturday in their opening match had increased the pressure on the team.

"The lead up to this tournament was pretty good. The confidence was quite high and the boys were playing good cricket," Dravid said.

"That's the nature of one-day cricket. We had a bad game against Bangladesh where we did not really bat well up front. That sort of put pressure on us."

He also defended his decision to insert Sri Lanka on a pitch that was being used for the first time in the series.

"It was something in the wicket and I think it was the right decision to send them to bat. They did well to get 250 and defended it well," Dravid contended.

Their latest loss left India on the verge of an early World Cup exit with just two points from three matches.

Their only chance of progressing to the Super Eight, second round is if Bermuda beat Bangladesh by a huge margin.

"It's really disappointing. A lot of hard work has gone into it over the last year. We did not play well in this tournament and did not deserve to go into the second round," said Dravid.