Johannesburg, July 12: Wiaan Mulder’s decision to not pursue Brian Lara’s record of highest individual Test score despite being close to it has been disapproved by the West Indies great himself who feels the South African all-rounder should have gone for it to create his own legacy.Mulder, who was on 367 and looked good to go past Lara’s 400, decided against it in a recent Test against Zimbabwe that South Africa won comfortably inside three days.
Mulder said his decision was out of respect for Lara, who smashed the epic knock back in 2004 against England.
The two recently spoke to each other and Mulder said Lara didn’t quite agree with philosophy.
“Now that things have settled a little bit, I’ve chatted a little bit to Brian Lara,” Mulder told ‘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,” he said.
Mulder’s innings was the fifth highest individual score in Test cricket and the highest by a South African. He said despite now knowing Lara’s views, he wouldn’t change the call he took that day.
“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 said.
Mulder said South Africa’s head coach Shukri Conrad had told him, “Listen, let the legends keep the really big scores.”