HAMPSHIRE captain Shane Warne wants to establish a 40-wicket lead over Muttiah Muralitharan before his world record rival returns from injury.

Warne is currently just two wickets shy of reclaiming the world record for the most number of Test wickets from Muralitharan, who is likely to play his first Test since shoulder surgery in December.

The leg spinner has the chance to claim the record outright during Australia's second Test against India in Chennai, which began this morning, but Warne, who entered today's match with 531 wickets, does not expect to hold the record when he retires.

He said: "It will go to and fro for a while but it seems he will be back around Christmas, so I will probably play eight or nine Tests before he comes back.

"If I work on four or five wickets a Test, I could get about 40 ahead of him and stay ahead for a while.

"If I end up with the world record at the end of my career, which is highly unlikely, I would be very happy.

"If I continue to bowl, bat and catch like I can, there is no reason I can't play for two to four years."

India's illustrious top order batting line-up failed to live up to their glowing reputation in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar last week. And the Indian legend is again out of the second Test due to an elbow injury.

Warne seemed certain to take the record on the final day of the first Test last week but, with four wickets up for grabs, lost his concentration after eight unsuccessful overs.

"Human nature takes over," said Warne, who bowled 60 overs at Bangalore and took 4-193. "You tell yourself you'll be relaxed and patient, and I was for 55 overs.

"But as soon as the game was there to be won - we all knew we'd win on the last day - my own expectation and everybody else's, the team's, the spectators', was that I'd get the last two wickets and get the record."

Warne will push for the mark at a Chennia ground where he had a "terrible game" and finished with the self-estimated figures of "0 for 2000" in 2001.

In fact he claimed 2 for 181 in India's two-wicket victory that sealed the series.

"You try and tell yourself there's no pressure," he said. "You just go out and play but the other day, I just thought 'There are four tail-end wickets to get, I only need two of them'.

"I just thought I'd toil away and toil away but after about eight overs for about 10 runs, nothing really was happening.

"It's a team game but when you get an individual record like that it's a pretty major one so hopefully I can get it this game.

"Otherwise I'd be pretty frustrated by the end of the five days. I'll be jumping off the nearest bridge."

Warne has struggled in India on his previous two tours there - but he is convinced that he has nothing to prove this time around.

He said: "I have had some absolute shockers over here, but it doesn't mean I can't bowl and I'm no good."