Who cares how old he is? He still is the best keeper in the country!
Batting ability is immaterial. For every keeper who can bat, there may be four bowlers who can bat, and that odd batsman who can bowl. As long as the two bowlers most capable of taking 20 wickets between them play, the other bowlers can be picked on batting ability. Even if they're just average, they can't be far worse than the specialists and they can score runs. At present, there are two in-form all-rounders among the season's top wicket-takers in the domestic matches. Any average bowling lineup looks twice as strong when boosted by superior fielding- look at the current NZ side.
But if the wicketkeeper is not the best and is prone to making one goof-up in six chances and the beneficiary happens to be Gilchrist, Flintoff, Ponting or Martyn, that batsman will make the fielding side pay and rub their nose into defeat. Look at this scene- it happened in Bangalore. Ponting was dropped by keeper Dravid on three, after which he massacred the Indian bowlers, demolishing any hopes of a victory. More than a year before, in a Test in Guyana, Deep 'The Drop' Dasgupta dropped Hooper on zero- King Carl made 233.
The best of bowling sides struggle with mediocre fielding. The Pakistanis had a very strong attack, with Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib and Saqlain, even Mushtaq, yet never won too many tournaments because the fielding was sub-par. They were defeatd a few times by the Lankans, a superior fielding side despite the latter's inferior bowling.
In a batting side with Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid and Sehwag, the batting should not be a problem, as long as partnerships are built. Even with a first-class average in the mid-20's, if he builds partnerships, it is more than enough, and . But there is no way any wicketkeeper, who is not a hundred percent effective, can make a playing XI- it is a major risk.
