West Indies legend Chris Gayle slams stand-in South Africa captain Wiaan Mulder for missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by not attempting to surpass Brian Lara's Test record in the second Test against Zimbabwe by scoring 400.
Mulder cruised to 367 not out at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo and had Lara's score of 400 not out within his sights with South Africa in command.But Mulder decided against chasing the record and instead opted to declare the Proteas' first innings at 626/5, leaving Lara's record for the highest score in Test cricket to remain. He was 34 runs away from creating a world record in Test cricket before he declared the innings at lunch.
Disclosing the reasons behind his decision, Mulder had said, "You never know what is destined for me, but Brian Lara keeping that record (of the highest score in Tests) is exactly the way it should be. Brian Lara is a legend. He got 400 against England – for someone of that stature, to keep that record is pretty special."
But the Windies great Gayle was not at all happy with Mulder's decision and insisted Mulder 'panicked and blundered', deciding against chasing the record."If I could get the chance to get 400, I would get 400. 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," Gayle said to talkSPORT.
"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. 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," he said.
"I think it was an error from his part 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!
"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. He panicked, and he blundered, straight up," Gayle added.
Mulder's unbeaten 367 off 334 deliveries is the fifth-highest individual score in Test cricket history. The right-handed batter stands only behind Brian Lara, Matthew Hayden and Mahela Jayawardena among the highest individual scorers in men's Tests.
His monumental knock, laced with a whopping 49 fours and four maximums, is the highest ever for the Proteas in the longest format of the game.