New Delhi, 9 July

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle felt 'South Africa's stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder 'panicked and made blunder, straight up' for not going after Brian Lara's record of the highest individual Test score earlier this week, when he declared on 367 not out against Zimbabwe.

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 on Day 2 of the second Test.

"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," Chris Gayle said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"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 added.

Gayle felt it was an error from Mulder's side and said it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get 400 runs in a Test match.

"I think it was an error from his side, 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."

In Bulawayo, Mulder found the formula to thrive in the number three role and decimated Zimbabwe's toothless bowling attack in the first four sessions. He made Zimbabwe regret their decision to bowl after winning the toss by toying with their field.

He bustled for runs and offered no clemency to the hosts. The memorable show put up by Mulder was laced with a staggering 49 and four towering maximums, the second-highest boundaries count in a Test innings behind John Edrich's 57.

He exploited Zimbabwe's misfiring tactics to blaze his way to the fifth-highest individual score in Test cricket's history and the highest since Mahela Jayawardene's swashbuckling 374 at Colombo in 2006.