It is easy to brand India's performance as shabby and admittedly, it was on certain  occasions, in the first Test at Lord's.
But scratch the surface, and you will get a clearer picture. There were a number of positives that the Indian camp will be eager to build on in subsequent matches, most notably their effort in batting out 96 overs jointly on the fourth and fifth days.
The tenacity that the Indians showed in the fourth innings at Lord’s has been conspicuous by its absence in recent times. A quick look back at India's South African tour that ended early this year will confirm that they had struggled to hold their own on fast and bouncy pitches.
Adverse conditions
The conditions were adverse, to put it mildly, at Lord's on the final day. Overcast skies, a strong and icy wind that breezed across the ground all day long, fading light, and a set of aggressive bowlers might have been enough to unsettle any batting side. But India showed welcome courage to survive the challenge.
What made the display all the more fascinating was that it was led by the most unlikely candidate -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni. After his failure in the first innings and a largely shoddy show behind the wicket, the Jharkhand batsman might have felt the pressure to deliver in the second innings.
Dhoni handled the pressure with aplomb, resisting the English bowlers for 202 minutes and steering his team to safe shores, aided by a steady drizzle which forced the umpires to call off the match.
It was not the kind of innings Dhoni usually plays; belligerence was traded for patience and flashing shots were replaced by workmanlike dabs. His partnerships, first with VVS Laxman and then with the lower order, were crucial in India managing a draw.
Important knock
“It was a different kind of innings and not the one I usually play. The situation demanded that kind of innings from me, and I am happy that I responded to it. This innings is as important to me as match-winning ones,” Dhoni said.
The maturity Dhoni showed under the circumstances might have eased a lot of worries in the Indian camp ahead of the second Test, beginning in Nottingham on Friday.
Similarly, half-centuries by Dinesh Kaarthick and Wasim Jaffer at the top of the tree too will gladden the Indian think-tank. Jaffer had not scored many runs coming into the first Test, but the Mumbai batsmen put his failures in the warm-up games behind him to register a confidence-boosting fifty.
Kaarthick played fluently in the second innings. The Tamil Nadu youngster proved that he can thrive in English conditions as well. The sound defensive technique shown in equal measure against pace as well as the spin of Monty Panesar was the feature of his batting.
Cause for concern
However, there are areas to be cleaned up as well. The Fab Four -- Rahul Dravid, Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly -- did not fire in this match. Laxman and Ganguly got starts, but could not convert them into big knocks.
Dravid fell victim to an exceptional delivery from paceman James Anderson in the first innings and to a dubious leg before decision in the second. However, Tendulkar could not complete his ambition of scoring a hundred at Lord's, despite paying attention to minute details like the height of sight screen. The Mumbaikar had requested the ground staff to increase the height of the screen by a couple of inches to negate the height of towering paceman Chris Tremlett.
Dravid admitted that the senior pros, himself included, have to find their rhythm as soon as possible. "Yes, we all would like to score more runs, and when we score more runs, it makes a difference to bowling as well. We are getting starts, but only that we are not able to convert them," he said.
There will not be a better occasion to do that than in the second Test.