Mohali: By drawing the last Test in Mohali England at least ensured they did not suffer a complete whitewash of the international fixtures on their tour of India.
Yet, after losing the one-day series 5-0 and then the first Test, a clean sweep of defeats might well have come to pass had persistent fog not eaten away at least a day's play out of India's grand plan for world domination. But were results what this Test series really about?
England's return, in the wake of the Mumbai atrocities, was hailed as a triumph in itself. So was their 1-0 loss to Mahendra Singh Dhoni' s rapidly burgeoning side, now back to second in the Test rankings, incidental?
“It's not as bad as defeat normally feels and I think we can take a lot of positives from these last two weeks,'' Kevin Pieter sen said after the match on Tuesday.
“We came here to concentrate on cricket without hardly any preparation with red ball or white clothing but it's been really, really tough to come back.
“Coming into the series against such a great side at the top of their game, especially in India, has been difficult, but we've competed really well and the boys can be proud of themselves. India are playing fantastic cricket at the moment. They are playing without fear and are difficult to beat.''
What Pietersen may have found is that his side may be more high-maintenance than he first thought when he assumed the captaincy last August.
“It's been a tough two months for English cricket, what with Stanford, losing the one-dayers 5-0 and then being pipped at the post in Madras,'' he said.
But I feel really proud to captain such a great bunch. They have been great ambassadors, though, and the Indian people have been magnificent.''
One of England's chief tormentors Yuvraj Singh, commented on Monday how much he liked to watch Pietersen bat, something which was surprisingly reciprocated by England's captain, despite Yuvraj's liking for his bowlers on this tour.
“It's been fun banter with Yuvraj and I told him how fantastically he batted today,'' Pietersen said. “He is one of the cleanest strikers of a ball in world cricket. The sixes that man hits leave me dumbfounded. He's a special, special player.''
Providing they did not collapse in a heap, Dhoni's declaration on Tuesday left England about 30 overs t negotiate before the teams could shake hands on a draw at 4pm.
In the event, only Alastair Cook was dismissed, after nibbling at one from Ishant Sharma that pitched outside his off-stump and went wider.
With Ian Bell struggling generally, though he did make an unbeaten 24 on Tuesday, England have not been well served by their younger batsmen of late.
Cook has been working hard on his batting with Andy Flower but sometimes too much theory removes the instinctive nature of batting, or as Pietersen put it: “See ball and hit it.''
Bell's malaise can be traced back to the 199 he made against South Africa at Lord's in July. Since then, he has made 182 runs in nine completed innings with just one half-century.
Tuesday's defensive knock would have revealed little, though Bell did field well, taking a fine diving catch to dismiss Gambhir and essaying two run-outs.
But such nuggets will be small solace when Michael Vaughan is in the selectors' thoughts for the West Indies and the launchpad for batting places in next summer's Ashes.