DAMBULLA (Sri Lanka), Jan 27: Sri Lankan ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who is already the world’s leading taker of Test wickets, is poised to become the leading bowler in One-day Internationals.

Barring injury or a spectacular sudden loss of form for the 36-year-old, that new record is likely to come in the five-match one-day series against India, starting here on Wednesday.

Already the world’s leading wicket-taker in Tests with 769 scalps in 125 matches, the off-spinner needs just three wickets to surpass former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram’s mark of 502 in One-day Internationals.

“We will be very happy when he gets the record. It is another milestone for him and another one for Sri Lankan cricket,” Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene told reporters on Tuesday.

“Everyone knows the amount of hard work he has put in over the last 16 years, going through a lot of hardship. Now, after a few games, or even tomorrow, he might hold the records in both Tests and one-dayers.”

Muralitharan said he was focused more on winning matches for his team than the world record.

“The milestones are not that important for me. Winning as a team is far more important. If these milestones come along, I am happy,” Muralitharan said.

Teams (from):

SRI LANKA: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilina Kandamby, Jehan Mubarak, Farveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Angelo Mathews.

INDIA: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Brian Jerling (South Africa).

TV umpire: Gamini Silva (Sri Lanka).

Match referee: Chris Broad (England). —AFP