Dravid retained as India captain

Dravid appeared careworn at a meeting with the Indian board

Rahul Dravid has been reappointed as India's captain despite their dismal first round exit from the World Cup.

Batsman Dravid will be in charge for next month's series in Bangladesh and a tour to England, which begins in July.

"All of us are very disappointed that the team was knocked out, but it is not the end of the world," said Board of Control treasurer N Srinivasan.

"By retaining Dravid as captain, we want to send out a signal that there is no cause for panic."

He continued: "We have to move forward and I am sure we will do well in future. It's a sport after all and there will be wins and defeats."

Dravid will work alongside a temporary coaching team of Ravi Shastri, Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh in Bangladesh.

And the board has recommended to the national selectors that they pick a "young team" for the tour, which features three one-dayers and two Test matches.

"We have not suggested any names, we have only given direction," Srinivasan said.

There had been speculation that Sachin Tendulkar might be offered the captaincy following India's poor showing in the Caribbean, where they lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

But Dravid has been given the chance to improve an overall record of 33 wins out of 65 limited overs internationals and eight out of 20 Test matches.

The board has also decided to put a ceiling on lucrative player endorsement contracts.

"A player will endorse not more than three sponsors/products and no sponsor can contract more than two players," Srinivasan added.

"The players shall take prior approval of the board before signing any endorsement contract and will submit a copy of the agreement to the board."