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Azhar on verge of record

India's cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin is on the threshold of history. When he steps out tomorrow at the head of his side, to take on Australia in the Wills International Cup, he will become the first player to play 300 one-day international matches.

Azharuddin will have appeared in 300 ODIs out of the total of 378 matches played by the Indians since the side made its debut in limited overs competitions in 1975. Azhar has missed only 11 matches after making his debut against David Gower's England side, in Bangalore.

The Indian skipper has many records to his name. He was once holder of the fastest ODI century, when he smashed 108 runs off 65 balls against New Zealand (a record later smashed by Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka, and then again by Shahid Afridi of Pakistan). Azhar, who has scored 8554 runs, is just 94 runs short of another world record, when he will surpass Desmond Haynes' aggregate of 8648 ODIs to become the player with the most number of runs in that form of competition.

Azhar has the most run outs against his name, in ODIs, being caught short of his crease on 29 occasions. He also has the highest catches to his name, with 145. Australia's Allan Border is runner up in both categories.