Dravid points to 'key players'

In a hard-hitting message ahead of the South Africa tour, India's captain Rahul Dravid has blamed his "key players" for the team's slump and said it was high time they delivered.

"I just think that we need to get performances from a lot of our key players. Last season when we were doing really well, a lot of players in the team were performing consistently and were sort of playing if not up to their potential, sometimes even above their potential", he told Press Trust of India.

"For the last 2-3 series, we have not been able to get consistent performances from most of our key players. That's something you need to correct. There's quality but we need to get back into putting consistent personal performances, which will help the team."

The Indian team has been going through a lean phase, particularly in one-dayers since the tour of the West Indies in April this year. The team lost the one-day series in the Carribean, failed to reach the final of the DLF Cup tri-series in Malaysia and were knocked out of the Champions Trophy before the semi-final stage.

Dravid said there was enough talent and resilience in the team to come out of this phase and be in a better frame of mind before the World Cup.

On the team's performance in the Champions Trophy, Dravid said it was disappointing not to reach the semis. "Obviously, we could have done better. It would have been nice to reach the semi-finals or final of the tournament especially because it was in India," he said. "But we cannot do much about it now. We have got to look ahead and keep improving our performances from here on until the World Cup."

The team leaves for South Africa on Monday for a 54-day tour, which will include a five-match ODI series and three Tests.