DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka (AP):

MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN is poised to become the leading wicket-taker in Test and one-day cricket when Sri Lanka's five-match limited-overs series against India starts today.

The 37-year-old offspinner, who already holds the Test record with 769 dismissals, became only the second bowler to take 500 one-day wickets in Sri Lanka's win over Pakistan last Saturday to be only two behind former Pakistani left-arm quick Wasim Akram.

"Everyone knows the amount of hard work the guy has put in over the last 16 years. He has gone through a lot of hardships," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said yesterday on the eve of the series opener in Dambulla.

"Very soon, he will hold both records and that's an amazing effort for a guy who started as a fast bowler as a kid."

Meanwhile, Muralitharan's spin partner, Ajantha Mendis, has gone on to become the fastest bowler to claim 50 ODI wickets after taking a match-winning 6-13 to rout India in the Asia Cup final last year.

"In the last ODI series, we did well against him," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. "So to be honest, there's no need for us to worry about him or any other individual. The team is ready to face the challenges ahead of us."

ODI series winner

Dhoni's team won 3-2 last August to become the first Indian side to win an ODI series in Sri Lanka, but he downplayed the significance of that victory yesterday.

"It's true that we won the last series here but I guess they must have seen what went wrong for them. One of the things that went wrong for them was the toss and the toss can be crucial when you are playing in these conditions," Dhoni said.

India offspinner Harbhajan Singh, who has picked up more than 200 wickets, has a hamstring injury and isn't in the squad, forcing Dhoni to play left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha or the uncapped Ravindra Jadeja.

Teams: Sri Lanka (from): Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilina Kandamby, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thilan Thushara, Angelo Mathews.

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