Now the inquest will begin and there will be no shortage of opinions in a cricket-mad nation. The tearing of hair has started, with Indians eager to find scapegoats for their side's failure to reach the semi-finals. But three players who will be excused from the backlash are Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and Ajay Jadeja. Together they contributed 1,125 runs to the Indian cause, while master batsman Sachin Tendulkar added another 235 - despite missing the middle of the tournament following his father's death. The trouble has been, though, that while the runs flowed in the Indian innings, they came at an even faster rate when the opposition were batting.
Theories abound as to why India's dazzling array of batting talent was let down.
We've played a lot of one-dayers in the last three years. However, Gaekwad's analysis of the team's failings may not prevent him from losing his job - particularly as a possible replacement is already in place. While there would be widespread opposition among supporters to the idea of using a foreign coach, Australia's Bobby Simpson is already being used as team consultant. Another likely candidate to collect his cards in the wake of the World Cup is captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Paceman Venkatesh Prasad characterised India's inconsistency Azharuddin has received the dreaded vote of confidence - which in the football world, at least, is traditionally the signal of an imminent sacking.