Wiaan Mulder missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to write himself into Test cricket history, writes SIMON BORCHARDT.

On Monday, Mulder went into lunch on day two of the second Test against Zimbabwe unbeaten on 367 – needing just 34 more runs to surpass the 400* made by Brian Lara against England in Antigua in 2004.

Like most Proteas fans, I was looking forward to watching the world record attempt after the interval. I hadn’t even considered the possibility that the newly crowned Test world champions would declare on 626-5 when there was still so much time left in the match.

So when my phone beeped with a message on the CSA Media WhatsApp group stating “South Africa have declared”, I was stunned. Why wouldn’t Mulder, the Proteas captain in this match, want to write himself into Test history, having already passed Hashim Amla’s South African record of 311? Surely it couldn’t be that he didn’t want to break Lara’s record, as some on social media suggested?

Yet that turned out to be the case.

“Brian Lara is a legend,” Mulder said at stumps on day two, after the Proteas had bowled out Zimbabwe for 170 and enforced the follow-on. “He got 401 or whatever it was against England. For someone of that stature to keep the record is pretty special. I think if I get the chance again, I would do the same again.”

Mulder said Proteas coach Shukri Conrad had supported his decision.

“He said to me as well, let the legend keep the record. I never know what my fate will be, but letting Brian Lara keep the record is the way it should be.”

WATCH: Triple centurion Mulder on declaration

I had mixed feelings after hearing this.

On the one hand, I was glad that it had been Mulder’s call and that he hadn’t been denied the chance to chase the record. I could also understand why he and Conrad wanted Lara – one of the greatest batsmen of all time – to keep it. And while Mulder didn’t say it outright, it was clear the quality of opposition in Zimbabwe was well below that which Lara had faced.

But on the other, I remain frustrated that Mulder gave up such a golden opportunity – not just for himself, but for South African cricket and for long-suffering Proteas fans who only recently had cause to celebrate a meaningful ICC title.

Lara’s record may never be broken, which would, to some extent, justify Mulder’s decision.

But how will he feel if it is, one day, and not by someone he considers worthy? What if an Englishman, batting on a flat pitch against a second-rate attack, Bazballs his way to 450 or 500?

Mulder may then realise he made the wrong decision when history came calling.

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Photo: Zimbabwe Cricket