Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah led the way with the ball as India thrashed South Africa by seven wickets in the second and final Test on Thursday and level the two-match series 1-1.
After a shock hammering in the first Test, India bounced back in fine style courtesy of Siraj and Bumrah, who both registered a six-wicket innings haul.
This short series will be a good learning for Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who refused to come to grips with the tough conditions and seemed more intent on playing flashy shots.
They could have taken a cue from Virat Kohli, who brought all his experience into play and put together some quality knocks.
How India's players rated in the South Africa Test series:
Rohit Sharma (4/10)
Rohit struggled to impose himself with the bat. His captaincy also came under a lot of criticism for the big defeat in the first Test.
Rohit managed just 60 runs in the two Test series at an average of 20.
His positive knock of 39 from 50 balls when he went after the new ball on the first day of the second Test on a lively pitch disrupted South Africa's game plans.
Yashavi Jaiswal (2/10)
Jaiswal paid for his poor technique against the new ball in seamer-friendly conditions.
After a dream start to his Test career in the West Indies, Jaiswal was sent crashing back to earth as he tallied 50 runs in the series at an average of 12.5.
Shubman Gill (2/10)
Gill's below-par showing in Test cricket continued.
His shift to No. 3 hasn't worked so far. He was guilty of trying to play too many shots on wickets where he needed to show some patience especially at the start of the innings.
Some of his dismissals were his own undoing including a catch down the leg side off Nandre Burger in the first innings of the first Test.
In the next essay he played all over a full delivery from Marcon Jansen, missing the attempted flick through midwicket to be bowled.
The 24 year old finished with 74 runs in four innings at an average of 18 and would take some positives from his knock of 36 on Day 1 in Cape Town.
Virat Kohli (9/10)
Kohli was easily the best batter from the two sides right through the series.
He started the series with a fighting 38 to rescue India after a few early wickets. In the second innings, he played some delightful shots to smash 76 from 82 balls, with 12 fours and a six, but got no support from the other end.
In the second Test, Kohli again stood strong against a quality attack on a tough pitch, where it rained 23 wickets in a day. Kohli was the top scorer from either teams with a dogged 46 which was instrumental in helping India grab a decisive lead of 98 runs.
Kohli was India's highest run-getter in the series with 172 runs at an average of 43 in a series where only four batters tallied 100 runs or more.
K L Rahul (8/10)
Keeping wickets and batting in the middle order for the first time in Tests, Rahul showed his class with a splendid century in the series opener.
He played a superb innings of 101 as he single-handedly took India to a fighting total of 245, while taking eight catches in the series.
Shreyas Iyer (1/10)
Iyer had a series to forget, scoring just 41 runs in the two games.
He struggled with his footwork as he fell to full incoming deliveries in both innings of the first Test and was caught behind in the first innings of the second match.
Jasprit Bumrah (9/10)
Bumrah led the Indian bowling attack quite admirably.
He bowled his heart out in the first Test without much support as he took 4/69, but his effort was in vain as the other bowlers went for plenty of runs.
Bumrah took 6/61 in the second innings to bowl out South Africa for 176.
He was the highest wicket-taker in the series with 12 wickets at an average of 12.
Mohammed Siraj (9/10)
After a not-so-impressive bowling performance in the first game, Siraj bounced back with a match-winning six-wicket haul in the second Test.
Siraj ripped apart the South African batting line-up, with sensational figures of 6/15 in nine overs as the Proteas crashed for 55 in the first innings.
Siraj took nine wickets in the series at an average of 15.
Mukesh Kumar (7/10)
Mukesh gave a good account of himself in the second Test.
Not picked for the first match, he made quite an impact with the ball in Cape Town. In the first innings, he took two wickets in 14 balls to polish off the tail and added another couple of wickets in the next, including dangerman Dean Elgar for 12.
Shardul Thakur (1/10)
Thakur disappointed with the ball in the first Test.
He struggled with his control as he conceded 101 runs in 19 overs. He was guilty of bowling a lot of loose deliveries to Dean Elgar, David Bedingham and Marco Jansen, which helped South Africa break free after a difficult start.
Prasidh Krishna (1/10)
Debutant Krishna was one of the biggest letdowns for India in the series.
He came into the series having not played much of first class cricket and his lack of experience in red ball cricket proved to be a big handicap.
Krishna, rated highly by the team management failed to get the desired results with the ball in both matches.
In the first Test, he bowled poorly with both the old ball and new ball, giving away 93 runs in 20 overs, and bagged just one wicket in the second Test where the conditions were loaded in favour of the pacers.
He finished with two wickets in the series at an average of 65.
Ravichandran Ashwin (4/10)
In a series dominated by fast bowlers, the spinners didn't have much to do.
Ashwin played the first Test in place of an injured Ravindra Jadeja.
He did the holding job to perfection, keeping one end tight for figures of 1/41 in 19 overs but failed with the bat in both innings with scores of eight and zero.
Ravindra Jadeja (-)
Jadeja went virtually unnoticed in the Cape Town Test.
He didn't bowl a single ball in the two innings and fell for a duck when he came out to bat.
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