Michael Atherton reveals Brian Lara’s prediction on who could break his unbeaten 400 record

Michael Atherton reveals Brian Lara’s prediction on who could break his unbeaten 400 record(Source: Getty Images)

Former England captain Michael Atherton recalled that cricket legend Brian Lara once predicted that emerging batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harry Brook could surpass his iconic 400-run record in Test cricket. Lara’s monumental achievement was set over two decades ago.

Recently, South Africa’s stand-in skipper Wiaan Mulder scored an unbeaten 367 in the second Test against Zimbabwe, marking the fifth-highest individual score in Test history. Despite having the chance to chase down Lara’s record, Mulder chose to declare the innings, a decision that has sparked mixed reactions within the cricketing community. Mulder’s unbeaten 367 now ranks behind Lara’s two highest scores, Matthew Hayden, and Mahela Jayawardene.

“I spoke to Brian Lara on the eve of his first record breaking innings, his 375, and I said do you expect somebody to break it? He said somebody will definitely break it because of the pace at which the modern player scores. I asked who is more likely to do it? He mentioned Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harry Brook, he thought perhaps they were likely to have a crack at it,” Atherton said on the Sky Sports Podcast.

The young Indian batter has already notched up a couple of double centuries early in his international career. Similarly, Brook made headlines with an impressive 317 in the first Test against Pakistan in 2024.

Former cricketer and commentator Dinesh Karthik recalled how Mulder was initially viewed as a makeshift No. 3 during the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia at Lord’s while highlighting the evolving perception of the South African all-rounder.

“First of all, he was the captain, he had the choice. He chose not to because he felt he needed time to bowl them out. Watching him in that WTC Final, in the comm box, a lot of the murmurs were, ‘Oh, Wiaan Mulder at No.3? It must just be a fit in for just this match’. He had a tough start in the first innings, but came out there and fought really nicely and played a very valuable knock, even though not very big in numbers, but definitely made an impact. But did I expect him to get 367? I don’t think so,” Karthik said on the Sky Sports Podcast.

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