South African cricketer Wiaan Mulder had the opportunity to break the record of Brian Lara in the second Test against Zimbabwe by scoring 400. However, he decided to declare the innings while he was unbeaten on 367, and the eyebrows went even wider when with the reasoning Mulder gave. “Brian Lara is a legend, let’s be real. He got 401 or whatever it was against England. And for someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special,” said Mulder on Day 2 after the innings.
However, another former cricketer, Chris Gayle, slammed the decision and said it was an error from Mulder. “He panicked and he blundered, straight up,” Gayle said, speaking on talkSPORT. “I think it was an error from his side, not to try and go to get it. We don’t know if he would go on and get it or not. But he declared on 367, and he said what he had to say. But listen, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get 400 runs in a Test match. Come on, youngster, you’ve blown it big time!”
“Come on, you’re on 367; automatically, you have to take a chance at the record. If you want to be a legend, how are you going to become a legend? Records come with being a legend,” Gayle added.
Mulder became the second South African to score a triple hundred after Hashim Amla. Amla scored 311 not out against England at the Oval. “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. But he was so generous and said he wanted the record to stay with Brian Lara. Maybe he panicked; he didn’t know what to do in that situation,’ Gayle said.
“It’s the same cricket, Test cricket,” Gayle said. “Sometimes you can’t even get one run against a team like Zimbabwe if you want to put it that way. It doesn’t matter the opponent, if you get 100 against any team, that’s a Test century. If you get a double or triple, 400, that’s Test cricket. That’s the ultimate game.”
