South African all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, in his maiden Test as captain of the national team, had a golden opportunity to replicate Brian Lara’s feat of scoring a quadruple century in the longest format, however, he declared the innings on 367*.
South Africa’s regular Test captain, Temba Bavuma, reckoned that all-rounder Wiaan Mulder’s decision to forgo breaking the all-time Test record last month against Zimbabwe was the outright example of a team player, of someone putting the collective goal ahead of personal achievements and milestones. Mulder, who was the stand-in captain of South Africa in the second Test after Keshav Maharaj, the stand-in captain for the opening game, missed out due to injury, broke the South African record for the highest Test score, in just his third game playing at No 3.
After he went past the 300-mark, he started surpassing Don Bradman, Gary Sobers, Graham Gooch, Sanath Jayasuriya and Hanif Mohammad one by one and it seemed like he would overhaul Brian Lara’s record of 400*. However, at lunch on Day 2, South Africa decided to declare at 626/5 with Mulder unbeaten on 367, while later justifying his decision saying that Lara is a legend of the game and that he should keep the record.
“That moment there – Wiaan Mulder – a young guy making his mark in international cricket, in his first game as a stand-in captain, has an opportunity to break the world record and is able to make a decision like that. That, for me, shows what the team is about,” Bavuma was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“I was actually there in Zimbabwe when Wiaan and the coach [Shukri Conrad] made that decision. I think he would have earned a lot of respect not just from us as players but from the cricketing world,” Bavuma added while commending Mulder’s call for keeping the team’s interest ahead and taking a call, which would have been difficult because there was a record for the taking as Lara and Chris Gayle themselves said later on.
“It’s easy to say that you’re going to put the team first and all of that, but the important thing is: when it’s in front of you, what do you exactly do?”
Bavuma became the first South African captain to lead the side to an ICC title in 27 years after his Proteas side won the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord’s in June, as he hoped to be remembered as a captain who let the other individuals express themselves. South Africa’s next Test assignment will be in October, a two-match tour to Pakistan, before the Test champions play as many games in India in November.
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