Chris Gayle SLAMS Wiaan Mulder for passing up chance to break iconic Brian Lara's 400-run Test record
New Delhi: West Indies legend Chris Gayle has lamented South Africa stand-in-captain Wiaan Mulder letting go a golden chance to stamp his name into the annals of test record-books by breaking one of the most iconic test records set by Brian Lara. At lunch on Day 2 of the second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, Mulder was 367 not out as South Africa were the commanding side. As Lara, with his stellar 400 not-out inches away, Gayle thinks Mulder ought to have strived to achieve it instead of stopping just before reaching the milestone.
Mulder pays respect to Brian Lara
But Mulder opted not to take the record and had declared the first innings score of South Africa at lunch on 626/5, only 34 runs short of beating Lara mammoth record of 400 not out. His call made sure that the record of the West Indian cricketing legend as to the highest individual score in the Test cricket remained there.
'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,' said Mulder.
Chris Gayle blasts Mulder
However, Chris Gayle, the West Indies great was not happy with the choice Mulder had made as he said that the South African had 'panicked and blundered' by opting against going after the historic milestone. According to Gayle, Mulder had a golden opportunity to make his name in the record books.
'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.
His monumental innings in which he hit an unbelievable 49 boundaries and four sixes has now become the record of the highest individual score ever achieved by a South African in Test cricket.
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