Even in their worst defeats, they act like world-beaters and pretend that they are no big deal; they haven't won a single game on this tour, against a decidedly resolute but much weaker team, but almost everybody still carried a swagger.
Captain MS Dhoni refused to accept that it had been a disastrous tour, merely accepting that the (loss in the) ODIs were disappointing "to some extent." He said: "South Africa, you can always say we didn't get enough time to prepare ourselves, and in a three-match series, it is difficult to come back."
He was generous enough to accept that many opportunities were squandered. "There were instances where we could have capitalised on. We saw a glimpse of that in this Test match also. In the last Test too, in the second innings, we bowled fantastically well to come back into the series.
"Then when we were batting, I felt we had a good partnership going but we lost wickets at the wrong time and that put the pressure back on ourselves. That's one part where we will have to improve."
But then, he quickly moved into theories and abstracts. "What's important is to see whether we have improved and changed the way we have played our cricket. If we compare to it to the SA series, there are plenty of positives, especially in this series."
Dhoni in fact argued that the team has developed. "We have progressed. It's very important to statistically say this is what has happened and this is where we have improved. Overall if you see our performance has been good.
The wickets in both the Test matches turned out to be flatter, getting better and better for batting. "Looking at that, our bowling performance was really good."
Indeed, he was all praise for the bowling, even though they couldn't take a wicket for more than a full day, especially when a victory was looming. "We bowled for two-and-a half days. We tried our best, all fielding positions, we tried three new balls to get them out," he said.
"At times, you have to appreciate that the opposition can also bat well. We don't always have to put pressure on our bowlers and batters saying we batted badly or we bowled badly. I think it was fantastic to see the way our bowlers bowled."
It was almost like it hardly mattered that a rare away victory had slipped away. "You don't get to see sides playing with three fast bowlers and one spinner and putting the kind of effort that we did.
Overall, we will accept that we were not able to get two batsmen out. They batted really well, we will give credit to them but at the same time, what really needs to be appreciated is the will and the way our fast bowlers tried to get the opposition out on a really flat wicket."
When asked about the frustration of the winless streak away from home, he became philosophical. "I am someone who speaks about the process, rather than about the results.
"If you compare our performance, the last two series we played after a long break outside the subcontinent. I think we have been improving. If you compare those two series (4-0 defeats in England and Australia) with the last few, there is plenty of improvement.
"That's what it's all about, you want to keep improving to a stage where you start converting those good situations into better starts, and then start capitalising on them."
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