South Africa’s stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder has admitted Brian Lara quietly told him he should have pushed on for the individual Test-score record after declaring on 367 not out against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
The 26-year-old called time at lunch on day two, leaving himself 33 runs short of Lara’s unbeaten 400 made in Antigua back in 2004. South Africa still wrapped up victory inside three days – an innings and 236 runs – yet the declaration sparked debate about personal milestones versus team priorities.
“Brian Lara keeping that record is exactly the way it should be,” Mulder had said straight after the match. A few days later, though, a phone conversation with the West Indian legend offered another angle. “Now that things have settled a little bit, I’ve chatted a little bit to Brian Lara,” Mulder told SuperSport. “He said to me I’m creating my own legacy and I should have gone for it. He said records are there to be broken and he wishes if I’m ever in that position again, I actually go and score more than what he had.”
That guidance may have surprised some, but Mulder remains comfortable with the call. “That was an interesting point of view from his side, but I still believe I did the right thing and respecting the game is the most important part for me.”
The unbeaten 367 is already South Africa’s highest individual Test score and sits fifth on the all-time list. Head coach Shukri Conrad had offered a gentle nudge in the opposite direction. Mulder recalled: “Listen, let the legends keep the really big scores.”
Not everybody agreed. Chris Gayle, speaking to talkSPORT earlier this week, felt the right-hander missed a rare opening. “If I could get the chance to get 400, I would get 400,” Gayle said. “That doesn’t happen often. You don’t know when you’re going to get to a triple-century again. Any time you get a chance like that, you try and make the best out of it. If you want to be a legend … how are you going to become a legend? Records come with being a legend.”
Mulder, who also took three wickets in the match, accepts the chatter as part of Test cricket’s fabric. For now, the record remains Lara’s, and the South African is content his own name is etched a little deeper into the sport’s sprawling scorebook.
