Tendulkar and the Indian batting
Tendulkar is now on a different sort of innings in his career. He has absolutely nothing to prove to anybody. There is no doubt that he is one of the 'classiest' batsmen ever and also can be the most devasting (runwise, speedwise) batsmen if he wants. If he wants. Everyone know that, he better than all of us. Currently the attention is on Sehwag but before this year is out, Tendulkar will have scored maybe not 300+ but he will play two more innings that will put all others to shame. He was a wounded tiger last year and has spent some time licking his wounds. To me he appears to be jsut shifting gears slowly but surely. Fortunately now he does not have to carry the weight of the scoring as in the past. What could a great batsmen ask for more. Without the pressure its not hard to predict some fantastic play from him. There is a very good chance that he will cross 300+ in a test this year.
I bet he was disappointed about missing out on his double century. I read on cricinfo "...and Tendulkar is too mature a player to think about when he going to get his next double century..". Yeah sure but Tendulkar is too much a great player to not regret scoring a single run when he could. More reason for a HUGE score to come from the champion.
I have huge respect for Sehwag. Its indeed overwhelming to be playing alongside a childhood idol, mimic him and then also be your own player. This series has seen Sehwag mature as a player. In a few months he has gone from being a Tendulkar look-alike, bat-alike to creating a unique style of his own. If Tendulkar had this effect on Sehwag, I am afraid to wonder if some youngster watching them both play is going to destroy bowlers in a few years.
The great and much spoken about batting line-up of India is finally showing runs in proportion to their potential. At this point of time, no team in the world looks it as a happy or easy prospect to get 10 Indian wickets.

Bowling
He is just 19! I am wondering what Irfan Pathan is going to do when he gets older and wilier..The Indian bowlers dont have too much of experience or fantastic pace or some great delivery. What they have is spunk. Give them time. Nothing better than victories at an early stage in their career. Indian bowling atleast pace bowling is about to take off.

Fielding
Having younger players in the team automatically took the fielding skills a notch higher. Add to that the rivalry between the players to outdo each other in the field. Add special coaches. WYSIWYG. Yuvraj Singh is India's answer to Jonty Rhodes. For years I hated the fact that we sucked so badly in the field. Your batting might fail, your bowling may not turn out right but your fielding that always remains. Great fielding gives you bowlers the confidence to try new stuff and the batsmen that their score will be defended. We have a long long way to go to reach the athleticism of the Australians or the South Africans but we are getting there.

Attitude
This is the last point but the most important point which affects all the previous. I think the first time India showed it was the Nat-West trophy in England. That was the first evidence of the change in the mindset of the Indian team. "We want to win." Early this year in Australia the Indian team came of age for the first time in all these years. They drew the series away from home with the mentally toughest teams in the world. There is no looking back after that. In comparision Pakistan is joke. It resembles a ramshackle outfit and after the first two games the Indian team have gotten over the 'We-are-playing-Pakistan' syndrome. Its no surprise that India managed to get the wickets so quickly on a wicket that seemed to be so full of runs when India batted. How? "We want to win". That's all.

Ganguly

Jerry MaGuire- Alright here's why you don't have your ten million yet. Right now, you are a paycheck player. You play with your head, not your heart. In your personal life - (points to chest) Heart. But when you get on that field -- it's all about what you didn't get, who's to blame, who underthrew the pass, who's got the contract you don't, who's not giving you your love. Well, that is not what inspires people. That's not what inspires people. Shut up. Play the game. Play it from your heart. And you know what? I will show you the "kwan." I'm sorry, but that's the truth. Can you handle it? Just a question Rod. Between friends. YOU KNOW?
(pause)
Rod Tidwell (sobbing): I all HEART! I am all HEART you motherfucker!

There is talk about sacking Ganguly. Right now he aint in the best of form but he is what India really needed. A heart as big a cricket field. No India captain has provided that so far. You can see the results.