The bowlers, led by the experienced Zaheer Khan, too put in a noteworthy performance, very nearly scaring the Proteas into defeat in the first Test at Johannesburg.
That tour made for a fine marker to carry on from, except the ODI losses thereafter may have undone some of the good work.
This is partly because, barring Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, the Indian batting line-up bears the same look in both formats.
And that is worrisome because only Virat Kohli and skipper Dhoni have scored any runs recently. Rohit Sharma has failed to convert his starts into anything substantial, while Ajinkya Rahane has struggled to find his footing here.
While the former has immense backing from the team management, the latter had a good showing in the African Tests to draw confidence from.
As always though, India's problems begin at the top of the order, wherein Shikhar Dhawan has looked ill at ease ever since he left home.
