A rain-hit final Test at The Oval saw the series shared 1-1, an improvement on India's last series in England in 1996, when they lost the first Test but drew the final two.

The drawn series pulled India up from eighth place in the ICC Test Championship table to seventh, overtaking archi-rivals Pakistan.

Ganguly's men are now just fractionally below the West Indies, who will be the tourists in India's next home series.

"We played pretty well on this tour," Ganguly said as his team arrived back in Bombay.

"We won the NatWest triangular series handsomely and then came back well, after losing the first Test, to square the Test series one-all."

Ganguly paid particular tribute to opening pair Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar, who came together for the first time in the third Test victory at Headingley.

But he also looked back to the side's triumphant NatWest Series, praising two of the key younger players in the limited overs side.

"I think we batted pretty well on this tour and it was good to see Sehwag and Bangar fit well into the scheme of things," he said.

"All in all it was a very good tour as we saw players like Mohammed Kaif and Dinesh Mongia in one-dayers and Bangar in the Test series come of age."

Ganguly said that the last-minute compromise allowing India's leading players to take part in the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka was not a victory for either side.

"We are happy the matter was settled amicably at the last moment," he added.

The one-day tournament begins on Thursday, and India will be back in the fray as soon as Saturday, when they take on Zimbabwe.

"We will worry about it when we reach Colombo as the players need rest now," Ganguly said.