By Admin 
Cricket lovers around the world were surprised when South African captain Vian Mulder let a golden opportunity in Test history go through his hands. In the second Test played against Zimbabwe, Mulder was batting unbeaten 367 runs and had reached very close to the historic record of 400 runs of West Indies veteran Brian Lara, but he declared the innings just before breaking the record.
Now Mulder has revealed in an interview that Brian Lara himself wanted his record to be broken. He said that Lara said to him, “Records are made to break, you should have done what was right in that moment. You have your own legacy.”
What did Brian Lara say
Mulder told in an interview to Super Sport that when he spoke to Brian Lara after the Test match, Lara not only appreciated him, but also regretted that his record did not break. Mulder said, “Lara told me that if you had a chance, you should have scored more than 400 runs. He told me that you are writing your own story and I am proud of him.”
Lara also added that he would like it if any batsman broke his record that deserves that achievement.
Why didn’t Mulder break record?
During the interview, when former veteran bowler Shaun Paulak asked him why he stopped himself from breaking the record, Mulder gave a very peaceful reply. He said, “I thought that our team has a lot of runs and we should now focus on bowling. The second reason was that it was not necessary for me to break the record of a great player like Lara. He deserves that his name remained in the record book. If I have ever got a chance again, I will probably take the same decision and will not break his record again”
There was only 33 runs gap
In the second Test match against Zimbabwe played in Bulawao, Vian Mulder played an unbeaten 367 run innings. He scored this score with 49 fours and 4 sixes in 334 balls. Mulder completed a triple century off 297 balls and joined the players scoring the fastest triple century in Test cricket. On the basis of this stormy innings, South Africa had declared their first innings by scoring 626 runs for 5 wickets and later won the match by innings and 236 runs.
There was a difference of only 33 runs between Mulder and Lara’s records. It was a rare moment in cricket history.