Our country lacks sporting culture: Kumble

The veteran leg-spinner, however, admits that one or two individuals might be made to pay for the debacle.

Miffed with fickle-minded fans for their violent outburst against Team India's World Cup debacle, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble said that the country lacked the sporting culture needed to understand the hard work put in by his teammates for the showpiece event.

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"We can understand their anger but as players we are more disappointed and this is the time we need their support. The fact is we don't have a sporting culture and that's why we don't understand the sacrifices that a sportsperson makes," Kumble said.

"When you are successful, you are adored and taken for granted but the moment you fail the fans lose faith in you. For instance in Australia, New Zealand and England, fans treat their home and away victories alike but here if we win at home the critics say it's only a home victory," he added.

Kumble felt calls for Rahul Dravid's sacking as skipper besides the demands to throw out certain players in the team were more emotional than rational as such moves would do no good to the future of Indian cricket.

The veteran leg-spinner, however, admitted that one or two individuals might be made to pay for the debacle.

"I think there would be someone who would definitely pay for this. But that should not happen," he said.

"The criticism is not fair. Just because we do endorsements does not mean that we are not concentrating on cricket. We fully realise that only playing well will get us all this," he said.