About....
He never was. Whatever Yuvraj could do at the top, Ganguly or Tendulkar could do better. He never had the experience, save a first-class match for Punjab and a practice match against India-A. He did not have the technique to handle the moving ball, which any opener should have. He struggled against the rising delivery a few times. If he should make an entry into the Test suqad, he must improve his game against spinners. He scored a hundred of 114 deliveries, which is good. He got after two of the best spinners in India in that innings, which shows that he can be quite destructive, yet build a long innings. He should do this more often in international matches than he does- playing lazy shots won't work.
SS Paul is only medium-pace!
That can be said of every pace bowler who has played for India in the recent past. None of them are genuinely quick. That is why they should be more accurate, last long spells and have good control over the ball, like SS Paul has. He is in good form and even though he's only medium-pace (like every other Indian 'fast' bowler), he puts the ball in the right spot. Zaheer and Agarkar bowl in the 130's (hardly anything to talk about) but bowl all over the place, so they struggle even on pitches mae for them. On the other hand, SS Paul, Gagandeep and NP Singh of Hyderabad have good control over the ball, making them more effective in such places. However, if someone bowls at express pace, he deserves mroe opportunities at the FC level, as well as professional help to put his skills to the best use.
I don't know why Arjun does not rate Indian keepers as batters.
None of them can win matches with the bat. They can't displace anyone from their team's top batsmen. Moreover, none of those so-called wicketkeeper-batsmen are good with the gloves. A certain Vinayak Samant is rated highly by experts- his coach says that his glovework is the best in India. These days, fielding is a very important aspect of the game and that includes wicketkeeping- the centre of all fielding activity. For a very average bowling attack, the fielding support has to be top-notch.
The Australians can win a tournament without McGrath or Warne or even without Gillespie and Lee as well, because they have enough fielding strength to make up for the lack of quality in bowling. The Pakistanis have had a powerful bowling attack (Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib, Saqlain, Mushtaq Ahmed) but the fielding has let them down repeatedly, even against a weaker bowling side like SL, who can field better. The Indians ave an average bowling attack, but they can be more penetrative if the fielding supports them better.
The team doesn't need more Ronnie Iranis
That player in question was a very average medium-pacer, no-hoper with the bat save one innings and immobile on the field. What the Indian team needs are all-rounders in the top domestic rankings for either skill. They need a bowler who can not only score runs but is also in good form with the ball, and a batsman who can contribute more than a few overs and take wickets. Here, Reetinder Sodhi, Ramesh Powar, Jai Prakash Yadav and S Vidyut come into the picture, but not the Bangar types. However, if Irfan Pathan can put his batting skills (particularly his big-hitting) to good use, or if Sehwag can bowl 10 overs an innings, that can help the team a lot.
The bowling attack needs two strike bowlers who can take the bulk of the 20 wickets in a Test match. The rest may just provide them support, so they don't have much to do. That's why they need to contribute with the bat as well. There are four or five bowlers, but only two of them lead, so ideally the others have to score more with the bat. However, there is only one wicketkeeper, so it should be your best man. It is better to have a Ramesh Powar or JP Yadav in the side than a Deep Dasgupta.
