Ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan hardly does any wrong these days. Two weeks ago he saved his team from certain defeat in Dhaka with his batting exploits and on Sunday, he became only the second bowler in history to claim 500 ODI wickets.

The coming week will be equally eventful for the 36-year-old off-spinner, as he requires three more wickets to overtake former Pakistan captain and paceman Wasim Akram as the highest wicket taker in ODI cricket.

On Saturday, he became the first man in history to claim 500 wickets in both forms of the game and on Wednesday, he could be crowned as the world’s highest wicket taker in both Tests and ODIs.

That will put him on par with Sachin Tendulkar who has scored most runs in both Test and ODI cricket. Muralitharan became the highest wicket taker in the world in Tests in the year 2007, when he went past Shane Warne’s record of 708 wickets.

Speaking to the media in Lahore after Sri Lanka completed a series victory, the off-spinner said that he’s keen to do well in the series against India that will be begin on Wednesday. India beat Sri Lanka last August in a five match series. "India is one of the best sides in the world and I am looking forward to playing against them and to settle scores as the last time they beat us in the one-day series," PTI quoted him as having said, after the tourists secured a massive 234 run win in Lahore to win the series.

"It would be nice, but for me to get there and for the team, milestones are not important, compared to winning matches. I do aim at targets. I play to win and if the milestones come along it is good and I feel proud as a Sri Lankan," he said speaking of the impending record.

Cricket experts feel that Muralitharan will go on to claim 1000 Test wickets before he retires. Although the off-spinner hasn’t ruled out that possibility, he has maintained that it will be tough to achieve the four figure milestone.

Whether he will achieve the milestone or not depends on for how long Muralitharan will play cricket. He has indicated that he doesn’t intend to play ODI cricket after the 2011 World Cup, but may continue in Tests.

Muralitharan made his Test debut in 1992 against Australia, but his cricket career was under a cloud after he was called for throwing at the MCG on the Boxing Day Test. But tests conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC), has cleared his action.