Bulawayo, July 7 -- South Africa stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder explained the reason behind his decision not to pursue West Indies legend Brian Lara's elusive 400 record on Day 2 of the second Test against Zimbabwe on Monday.

After toppling a handful of records, Mulder stood on the cusp of surpassing Lara's milestone of smashing 400 in a Test innings. He returned unbeaten on 367(334), 33 runs short of levelling Lara's record after lunch was called. However, to everyone's surprise, South Africa declared its innings on 626/5.

Mulder broke the air of silence around the Proteas' decision to declare their innings and declared that "legend" Lara deserves to keep the record for himself. The 27-year-old doesn't carry the burden of regret on his ...