Bermuda need to play far more matches against Test-class opposition and somehow expand their minute player pool if they are ever going to be competitive against the world’s top teams.

That was the assessment of Indian captain Rahul Dravid last night in the aftermath of his side’s crushing 257-run defeat of perhaps the weakest side in the competition.

Asked what he thought of Bermuda’s players and what they had to do to improve, Dravid said the average age of the current crop was also a cause for concern.

“They’re going to have to play a lot more international cricket for a start,” he said.

“Just by talking to some of their players, I’ve been made to understand that their player pool is a bit limited and they’re going to have to do something about that if they want to remain competitive, especially given the age of some of players in the current team.

“So increasing the player pool and playing much more cricket against top teams is the only way they are going to progress.

“Where Bermuda is located is quite ideal really because they’re in perfect place for teams that might be touring the West Indies to drop in either before or after a tour of the West Indies and play a few games.

“If the Island had good wickets and practice facilities as well, I’m sure many teams would be quite happy to come to Bermuda for a week’s practice and to play some games. That would be perfect for them because they have to get used to playing against this standard of opposition.”

Although India handed Bermuda the biggest ever thrashing in World Cup history, there were still some Indian journalists at the packed press conference afterwards who asked whether Dravid’s team could have bowled out the opposition even more cheaply than they did.

Despite losing regular wickets, a stubborn lower-order partnership of 44 from David Hemp and Dwayne Leverock held India up for more than half an hour.

Predictably, Dravid rejected such suggestions. “Well obviously they have one professional batsman in their side (Hemp) who played pretty well and kept us out there a little longer than we would of liked,” he said.

“He rode his luck a bit, but in general played pretty well and we struggled to get rid of him. But no I’m not disappointed with our bowling performance.

“The wicket got a lot easier to bat on in the afternoon as well. There was no appreciable swing or sideways movement or anything like that, which made it easier for Bermuda to survive.

“But we started the day aiming to score pretty much the same score that Sri Lanka did against them and we achieved that. We had to win both our remaining games and now we’re halfway there.”

With Bangladesh likely to beat Bermuda in the final game in Group B next Sunday, India must beat Sri Lanka on Friday and hope results go their way elsewhere if they are to progress to the Super 8s.

“We’re happy to have won the game,” Dravid said.

“Obviously net run rate may well come into it (when deciding which two teams progress) but once again, all we can do is control the things that we can control, and that involves going out and playing good cricket and beating Sri Lanka.”