African Safari: Approaching milestones ahead of South Africa-India ODI series

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has scored 42 fifties as captain, requires three more fifties to occupy the second place in the list of captains who have scored most fifties as skipper. Ricky Ponting (73 fifties) occupies the first place. If Dhoni gets three more fifties, he will share the joint second place with Stephen Fleming and Graeme Smith who have scored 45 fifties each. (Click here for full coverage of India's tour of South Africa)

Dhoni, who has scored 36 half-centuries as captain, requires two more fifties to occupy the first place in the list of Indian captains who have scored most fifties as captain in ODIs. If he gets them, he would go past Mohammed Azharuddin, who has scored 37 half-centuries. (Top-5 battles to watch out for)

Dhoni has an aggregate of 297 dismissals prior to the start of the series. He needs three more dismissals for his 300 dismissals. If he gets it, he would then become the fourth wicket keeper in the annals of one-day games to effect 300-plus dismissals. Others are - Adam Gilchrist (472), Mark Boucher (424) and Kumar Sangakkara (423). (Top-five Indians to watch out for)

Dhoni has an aggregate of 78 stumping dismissals prior to the start of the series. He needs two more for his 80 stumping dismissals. If he does this, he would then become the second wicket-keeper in ODIs to effect 80-plus stumping dismissals. Sangakkara has effected 87 stumping dismissals.

Dhoni has an aggregate of 194 dismissals as captain-cum-wicket keeper prior to the start of the series. He needs six more dismissals for his 200 dismissals. If he gets them, he would then become the only captain-cum-keeper to effect 200 dismissals in ODIs. (India look to break status-quo in ODI, Test series)

Jacques Kallis and Gary Kirsten have scored 13 fifties against India in ODIs. One more fifty for Kallis would give him the record of most fifties by a South African batsman against India. (Kallis: A player South Africa deserved)

Kallis has taken 30 wickets against India prior to the start of the series. Two more wickets would give him 32 wickets. If he gets them, he would then occupy the third place among South African bowlers who have taken most wickets against India. Shaun Pollock (48) and Allan Donald (46) are the two bowlers who have occupied the first and second places. Kallis would go past Lance Klusener, who has taken 31 wickets on his way to the third place.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Pollock have taken four or more wickets against India on two occasions. One more four wicket haul for pacer Tsotsobe would give him his third four-wicket haul and with it the distinction of becoming the first South African bowler with most four-plus wicket hauls against India.

Smith has taken 19 catches against India prior to the start of the series. One more catch would give him 20 catches and with it the distinction of becoming the first South African fieldsman to take 20 catches against India and also the first fieldsman to take 20-plus catches in South Africa-India one day series.

Smith has taken 19 catches against India prior to the start of the series. One more catch would give him 20 catches and with it the distinction of becoming the 13th fieldsman to pouch 20-plus catches against India in ODIs.

Smith has taken 18 catches as captain against India in ODIs. The record for most catches by a captain against India is credited to Vivian Richards of West Indies who has pouched 19 catches. Smith needs two more catches to overhaul Richards' tally of 19 catches and to earn the record of most catches by a captain against India.

Kallis has an aggregate of 13 fifties against India prior to this series. Two more fifties would give him 15 fifties. If he gets them, he would then become the seventh batsman to score 15 or more fifties against India in one day games. Others are -- Sangakkara (22), Sanath Jayasuriya (21), Mahela Jayawardene (20), Aravinda de Silva (16), Inzamam-ul-Haq (16) and Ponting (15).

Kallis has an aggregate of 1515 runs against India prior to the start of the series. Eighty-five more runs would give him a total of 1600 runs. If he gets it, he would then become the 11th batsman to amass 1600-plus runs against India in ODIs.

Shikhar Dhawan has scored five hundreds in 2013. One more hundred in the ensuing series would make him the fifth batsman in ODIs to score six or more hundreds in a calendar year. His feat would provide the sixth such occasion in ODIs. The other five occasions are -- Sachin Tendulkar (9 in 1998), Sourav Ganguly (7 in 2000), Kirsten (6 in 1996), Tendulkar (6 in 1996) and Rahul Dravid (6 in 1999).

Dhoni has scored 12 sixes against South Africa in one-day games. He needs three more sixes for his 15 sixes. If he gets them, he would then become the fourth batsman in South Africa-India one day series to score 15 boundary sixes. Others are -- Ganguly (31), Ajay Jadeja (15) and Tendulkar (15).

Dhoni has scored 12 boundary sixes against South Africa in one-day games. He needs four more sixes for his 16 sixes. If he gets them, he would then occupy the second place in the list of Indian batsman who has scored most boundary sixes against South Africa in ODIs. Ganguly, with 31 boundary sixes, occupies the first place.

Ravindra Jadeja, who has an aggregate of 51 wickets in 2013, has a chance to become the highest wicket-taker in 2013 if he captures three more wickets. He would go past Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan, who has taken 53 wickets in 2013.

Ravindra Jadeja, who has an aggregate of 51 wickets in 2013, has a chance to overhaul Anil Kumble's 61 wickets in 1996 if he gets 11 more wickets in 2013. If he gets them he would have taken 62 wickets in 2013. He would have also gone past Ajit Agarkar's 58 wickets in 1998. Kumble's 61 wickets in 1996 is a record for an Indian bowler for most wickets in a calendar year.

Dhoni has an aggregate of 19 dismissals against South Africa prior to the start of the series. He needs one more dismissals for 20 dismissals. If he gets them, then he would become the first Indian wicket-keeper to effect 20 or more dismissals against South Africa. He would also become the third keeper after Boucher (42) and Dave Richardson (31) to effect 20-plus dismissals in South Africa-India one day series.

Dhoni has an aggregate of 7690 runs prior to the start of the series. He requires 310 more runs for his 8000 one-day runs. If he gets them, he would then become the seventh Indian batsman to total 8000-plus one-day runs.

Dhoni has an aggregate of 5213 runs while leading India. He requires 27 more runs to overhaul the run aggregate of 5239 runs by Azharuddin. If he gets them, he would then earn the distinction of becoming the most run getter as Indian captain in one-day games.

Virat Kohli has played 48 games on away soil. Two more game would give him 50 games on away soil. He would then become the 20th Indian cricketer to appear in 50-plus games on away soil.

Kohli has an aggregate of 1930 runs on away soil. Seventy more runs would give him a total of 2000 runs on away soil. He would then become the eighth Indian batsman to total 2000-plus runs on away soil. Others are -- Tendulkar (5065), Dravid (3998), Ganguly (3468), Yuvraj Singh (3377), Dhoni (3044), Virender Sehwag (2999) and Azharuddin (2804).

Kallis has scored 13 fifties against India prior to the start of the series. One more fifty for him would earn him the record for most fifties by a South African batsman against India. He would go past Kirsten's 13 fifties against India. Two more fifties for Kallis would earn him the record for most fifties by a batsman in South Africa-India one day series, as he would go past Dravid's 14 fifties.

Tsotsobe and Dale Steyn have an aggregate of 18 and 17 wickets, respectively, against India. If they capture three and two wickets, they would be having a total of 20 wickets and would become the ninth and 10th South African bowlers to capture 20-plus wickets against India.

Kallis has an aggregate of 30 wickets against India prior to the start of the series. Two more wickets would give him a total of 32 wickets and with it, he will occupy the third place among the list of bowlers who have taken most wickets against India. Pollock (48) and Donald (46) have occupied the first two places in the list. It is interesting to note that Kallis is yet to take a four-plus wicket haul against India.

Kallis has an aggregate of 272 one-day wickets prior to the start of the series. He needs three more wickets for his 275 wickets. If he gets them, then he would become the 17th bowler in ODIs to capture 275 wickets.

Kallis has an aggregate of 272 one-day wickets prior to the start of the series. He needs three more wickets for his 275 wickets. If he gets them, then he would become the second South African bowler to capture 275 wickets in ODIs after Pollock, who has an aggregate of 393 one-day wickets.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma have an aggregate of 95 and 96 ODI wickets prior to the start of the series. Five more wickets for Ashwin and four more for Sharma would give them a total of 100 wickets each. They would then become the 16th and 17th Indian bowlers to capture 100 plus wickets in ODIs.

(HR Gopala Krishna is a senior cricket statistician)