Wiaan Mulder reveals what Brian Lara said to him about not breaking his ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ record

Wiaan Mulder, South Africa’s Test captain for the Zimbabwe series, came agonisingly close to breaking the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ record set by Test great and former West Indies captain Brian Lara, but chose against doing so, receiving mixed emotions from cricket and the wider world. Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in Tests (400*, he hit against England in 2004); while only a couple of players came close to breaking it, none looked as determined as Mulder against Zimbabwe in the just-concluded second Test. Mulder revealed what the great man told him about not breaking his Test record.

Mulder scored an unbeaten 367 against Zimbabwe, and while he was at the crease when teams departed for lunch on day two, he, also the stand-in skipper for this series, decided to declare, shocking everyone.

South Africa declared on 626 for five, and Mulder finished 33 runs short of breaking Brian Lara’s record for most runs hit in a Test innings.

When asked about his thoughts on declaring so close to breaking the record, Mulder said firstly, he felt the score was enough on the board to keep South Africa ahead in the game, and, secondly, he willingly decided against going past Lara’s tally of 400*, explaining why.

"Well, first things first, I thought we've got enough, we need to bowl. And secondly, Brian Lara is a legend, let's be real," Mulder said in a chat with Shaun Pollock during the post-day interview with SuperSport.

"He got 401 [400*] or whatever it was against England. And for someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special. I think if I get the chance again, I'd probably do the same thing. I know I was speaking to Shuks [coach Shukri Conrad].

"He kind of said to me as well, like 'listen, let the legends keep the really big scores'. You never know what's my fate or whatever you want to call it, what's destined for me. But I think Brian Lara keeping that record is exactly the way it should be,” he continued.

Here’s what Lara told him

Now that the matter has settled down a bit, Mulder revealed he chatted with Lara about this, and the Caribbean King told him that he should have broken that target. He, however, maintained his stance and humility in accepting that whatever he did was right.

"Now that things have settled a little bit, I've chatted a little bit to Brian Lara," Mulder said to 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 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,” he continued.