Faouzi Aaish opened the scoring in the sixth minute but India responded just three minutes later through Gouramangi Singh.

Abdulatif then opened his account after 19 minutes and grabbed another three minutes later before sealing his hat-trick 10 minutes before the break.

Sunil Chhetri pulled another goal back early in the second half but although Bahrain had Aaish sent off just after the hour, they scored a fifth through Abdulatif.

A win for Bahrain in their final Group C game against Australia next Tuesday will send them through to the last eight.

"We lost the first match against Korea Republic and the game against India was important for us," said Sharida. "We needed a win tonight and that's what we tried to get.

"We had fighting spirit and scored from the chances that we had and we almost had the game won by the end of the first half.

"At half-time I warned the players that our opponents would come out fighting and in the second half India nearly threatened a comeback. But at the end of the night we got the three points and that's the most important thing for us."

The defeat for India confirmed their exit from the Asian Cup, but coach Bob Houghton admitted it has still been a valuable experience for his players.

"This tournament is good for us for two reasons," he added.

"The first reason is that it shows that our federation and sports authorities need to step up and we need to have more infrastructure. The second one is that I believe it is good for the profile of football in India and it will be helped by this.

"Many people are watching the matches of the Asian Cup and playing against such teams as Australia and Bahrain is good for Indian football."