Wiaan Mulder Makes Shocking Declaration, Misses Brian Lara's Historic 400-Run Record; Here's How Fans Reacted

Wiaan Mulder's shocking decision of not chasing the world record of 400* in Test cricket, achieved by Brian Lara in 2004, left cricket fans surprised on Monday, July 7.

Stand-in skipper Wiaan Mulder scripted history after scoring the highest-ever individual score by a South Africa international in Test cricket. However, Mulder's shocking decision of not chasing the world record of 400* in Test cricket, achieved by Brian Lara in 2004, left cricket fans surprised on Monday, July 7.

Coming in to bat at number three, Mulder captaining South Africa for the first time, was 367 not out off 334 balls at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. He was 33 runs behind the 400 not out West Indies legend Lara made against England in Antigua in 2004.

It was expected that Mulder would come back after lunch and try to break Lara's historic record. However, in a shocking decision, Mulder declared South Africa's first innings on 626-5 at lunch, deciding to not chase Lara's elusive record in Test cricket.

Regardless of his, Mulder etched his name in the history books. His 367 not out is the fifth-highest individual score in Test cricket history. The right-handed batter stands only behind Brian Lara, Matthew Hayden and Mahela Jayawardena among the highest individual scorers in Men's Tests.

Highest Individual Scores In Test Cricket

400* - Brian Lara for West Indies v England, Antigua 2004

380 - Matthew Hayden for Australia v Zimbabwe, Perth 2003

375 - Brian Lara for West Indies v England, Antigua 1994

374 - Mahela Jayawardene for Sri Lanka v South Africa, Colombo 2006

367* - Wiaan Mulder for South Africa v Zimbabwe, Bulawayo 2025

Earlier, the 37-year-old Mulder became the first batter to score a triple hundred on Test captaincy debut. He scored the second quickest triple hundred in the history of the format (297), behind only Virender Sehwag, who had got past the milestone off 278 deliveries against South Africa in Chennai back in 2008.

South Africa is leading the series 1-0 after registering a massive 328-run victory in the first Test in Bulawayo.

Here's How Fans Reacted To Wiaan Mulder's Shocking Declaration

MASSIVE RESPECT TO CAPTAIN WIAAN MULDER 

- It's just the 2nd Day, Lunch session, 34 runs away from History but he has decided to Declare, not many would have done this in Cricket.

One of the Iconic Moments, Brian Lara 400* Stays on  pic.twitter.com/u4jHamck9G

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 7, 2025

Brian Lara watching selfless Wiaan Mulder pic.twitter.com/tfdyUWn1Lt

— Sagar (@sagarcasm) July 7, 2025

A very selfless decision and perhaps out of respect for Brian Lara.

What a class man, Wiaan Mulder is

— BokScrum (@BokScrum1211) July 7, 2025

Noooo what have you done Wiaan Mulder

— alam (@wirtz_pool) July 7, 2025