Approaching milestones in India-England series

India and England will kick off their two-match Test series with the first Test beginning in Chennai on Thursday. The series will also provide individuals to fulfil their approaching milestones in Test cricket.
— The first Test in Chennai will be England's 50th in India. They will become first visiting side to reach this landmark. Australia and West Indies are joint second with 40 Tests apiece.
— India's Virender Sehwag and South Africa's Graeme Smith are engaged in an interesting contest to emerge the most successful batsman in Test cricket in calendar year 2008. Smith has aggregated 1,363 runs in 13 Tests, while Sehwag's tally stands at 1,353 from 12 Tests this year. The last time an Indian batsman topped the Test runs tally in a calendar year was way back in 1999 when Sachin Tendulkar aggregated 1,088 runs in 10 Tests.
— Harbhajan Singh is engrossed in an interesting battle to emerge the most successful bowler in the year 2008. The off-spinner has taken 55 wickets in 11 Tests this year and is third after Dale Steyn (60) and Brett Lee (56).
— Virender Sehwag needs one six to equal Kapil Dev's Indian record of most sixes (61) in a Test career.
— Tendulkar needs six runs to complete 2,000 Test runs against England. He will become the second Indian batsman to aggregate 2,000 runs against England after Sunil Gavaskar (2,483 in 38 Tests @ 38.20).
— Having already scored 2,748 runs against Australia, Tendulkar will also become only the second Indian and 11th batsman overall to aggregate 2,000 runs against TWO opponents. Others to do so are Allan Border, Geoff Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar, Graham Gooch, Wally Hammond, Desmond Haynes, Brian Lara, Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Steve Waugh. Gavaskar and Lloyd have performed this feat against THREE opponents!
— Tendulkar needs 93 runs to aggregate 1,000 runs in Test matches in the year 2008. This will be the fifth such instance for Tendulkar to reach four-digit mark in a calendar year. Tendulkar had scored exactly 1,000 in 1997, 1088 in 1999,1003 in 2001 and 1392 in 2002.
— Tendulkar will also equal the world record of aggregating 1,000 runs in a calendar year on MOST occasions. West Indian Brian Lara and Australian Matthew Hayden have performed this feat on five occasions. Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis are the other batsmen to have done so on four occasions.
— Tendulkar needs two sixes to complete 50 sixes in Test matches.
— A win in either of the Chennai and Mohali Tests will make Sachin Tendulkar the first Indian to appear in 50 WON Tests.
— Rahul Dravid is just two short of equalling Mark Waugh's world record of maximum catches by a fielder in Test cricket (191).