Allan Border believes Steve Waugh can perfectly round of his cricket career by supplanting the former Australian captain as the highest run-getter in Test history.

Waugh, who has announced his retirement from the game at the end of current four-Test series against India, needs 515 runs more to surpass Border's record of 11,174 which came in 156 Tests in 1994.

Border, who is also a national selector, said the record was 'within Waugh's grasp'.

"I think he can do it. I think 515 runs is well within his grasp. It will give him a focus to keep his standards high, those personal standards that he sets," Border was quoted as saying in Queensland Sunday Mail.

Waugh said he too believed he could achieve the record but his stay at the top would be a short one before one of his contemporaries surpassed him.

"I don't think it (the Test record) is out of reach," he said. "All records are meant to be broken and will be broken.

"You look at guys like (Brian) Lara, (Sachin) Tendulkar and (Ricky) Ponting. I think they will all go past the 10,000 mark.

"If I was fortunate enough to get there it will be a short stay anyway.

"If I got that amount of runs in the series it would be great. But I am not going to worry about it. I will be happy enough with what I have achieved."

Border said he would have no complaints if the player he saw grow from a boy into a man in the 65 Tests they played together eclipsed his mark.

"I don't begrudge him. I was very happy to bask at the top there but I won't begrudge him going past me. I am happy for him to reach the target and be the number one man."

Border added there was a catch -- Waugh's chances depended on how many times Australia batted in the four Tests.

"There is a carrot there, isn't there? A little bit of it will depend on how many times he bats.

"If he only bats four times it will have to be something extraordinary. If he gets half a dozen bats it is definitely attainable."

Border too shared Waugh's view that the mantle would change hands -- probably to Tendulkar -- in a short time.

"If Stephen goes past me I think he will be a caretaker for about three years. That's the way I see it.

"Tendulkar is up around 9000 runs (8882) and needs about 2 1/2 years to break it. Barring anything major happening he should score 12,000-13,000 runs at least."