/ Ralph Ellis / 03 August 2011 / 1

There has been plenty of philosophising amongst footballers and cricketers in recent days and even more praising of the current England Test team. But they're not the number one team just yet and the return of Virender Sehwag will provide a whole new challenge.

It seems to be a day for sportsmen who like to be philosophers. Joey Barton is stealing the limelight, quoting George Orwell, of all people, on his Twitter account. "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act," he says.

I was thinking of putting "two legs bad, four legs good" on my Twitter feed, just to show I could quote some Orwell too. And the way football is going, with player power and all that, Animal Farm might not be a bad comparison for the way the Premier League revolution is turning out.

Anyway, having a look around some other sportsmen who like to offer profound quotes on Twitter to their public, I came upon this quote: "Success is an evolution, not an overnight achievement: A journey, not a destination: An unending project, never a single simple accomplishment"

It's author? None other than Virender Sehwag. And though he wrote it back on April 13, it struck me as an ominous warning to England's cricket team as they bask in the success of Lord's and Trent Bridge. Today's papers are full of articles, inspired by the views of Nasser Hussain, debating whether this is the best England team ever. Read his views, and those of others like Bob Willis and David Lloyd, and you'd pile into the [4.3] currently on offer for Andrew Strauss's team to finish this series with a 4-0 whitewash.

But it strikes me we might be putting the cart before the horse here (to use a bit more Animal Farm), because at this moment we're still not officially the best in the world at this moment, never mind all time. To hit the top of the current rankings, Andy Flower's team need either to win one of the two remaining Tests at Edgbaston then The Oval, or at the very least avoid defeat in both. And if Trent Bridge taught us anything, it is that there are no certainties in this series.

I'd begun the second Test by confidently laying India to win £100 at [4.62], so I know only too well how close England came to defeat. Twice - at 124-8 on the first day and then when India were rattling along at 266-4 on Saturday - I had written off my money. Stuart Broad's heroics turned it round on each occasion, but it proved that the Indians are not the current number one nation by accident. I'm certainly not sure my nerves will stand up to laying India again for Edgbaston at the current price of [4.9].

That's partly because of two far more recent, and far more relevant, tweets by Sehwag.

"Finally leaving for England tour" and "wish me luck guys", 13 hours ago, which means he's stepping off the plane any time now. He will bring authority, aggression and runs to the front of India's batting order and might make things a whole deal simpler for the likes of VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar to follow.

Here's another Orwell quote: "Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem invincible". I hope it is one that Strauss and his team will remember, and make sure they get the job done before they join in the debates about history's best England team.

Five things you might not know about Virender Sehwag

1.Born October 1978 in Delhi, his father Krishan was a grain merchant. He grew up in a joint house shared with mother Krishna, his two elder sisters Manju and Anju, younger brother Vinod, plus uncles, aunts and 16 cousins

2.Obsessed with cricket after being given a toy bat when he was only seven months old, dad tried to ban the 12-year-old Virender from playing after he came home with a broken tooth. Krishna cleaned, then hid his kit for several months.

3.He had a technical fault in his teens, dragging his back foot forward. His coach AN Sharma solved it by making him bat in the nets with a rope tying his foot to the net pole. When he made 309 against Pakistan to become the first Indian to score a Test triple century, Sehwag singled out Sharma for thanks.

4.He followed that with 319 against South Africa at Chennai in April 2008 - reaching 300 off just 278 balls, to score the fastest triple century in Test history.

5.He is a complete vegetarian whose favourite dishes are kheer (a rice pudding type recipe), tari ka aloo, and aloo ka parantha (potato and poppy seed recipes - the second using an Indian flatbread). He opened a vegetarian restaurant in 2005.

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1. sachin | 09 August 2011

   Sehwag Can Destroy Any Bowling Attack,Any Bowling Attack He Is A Legendary Batsman And An Inspiration For Billions Of Vegetarians

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