'What On Earth Was He Thinking?': Netizens Heartbroken At Wiaan Mulder's Mysterious Declaration At 367*, 34 Runs Short Of Surpassing Brian Lara's Record

Fans have questioned South Africa all-rounder and stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder for declaring his innings at 367 in the second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo when he had the chance to surpass Brian Lara's record of 400 in Test cricket. Fans on social media have been left heartbroken as the seam-bowling all-rounder was only 34 runs shy of making the world record his own.

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It was back in 2004 that Lara made an unbeaten 400 against England at the Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's in Antigua, a record that is still standing. Before Mulder, David Warner had threatened to break the record in 2019 against Pakistan in Adelaide but Tim Paine declared when the Aussie opener was unbeaten at 335. England's Harry Brook had scored a triple-hundred in 2024, peeling off 317 against Pakistan.

Mulder walked in to lunch on day two unbeaten at 367, with fans backing him to break the West Indies legend's record when play resumes. However, it emerged that the Proteas had declared the innings, with their score standing at 626/5. The all-rounder reached his triple-hundred only off 297 balls, making him the second-fastest to the mark.

Here are some of the netizens' reactions to the declaration

Proteas Captain Wiaan Mulder declaring when batting on 367 not out with wickets in hand..... Shocking. Could have easily gone past Brian Lara's 400 set in 2004.
Zimbabwe got lucky #SouthAfrica #Zimbabwe

— Rahul Patra (@iamrahulpatra10) July 7, 2025

Why would you declare, Wiaan Mulder? Such chances dont come everyday. Well Played 🫡 #savszim #Lara @ProteasMenCSA

— SpinWithTrivedi (@parthkt) July 7, 2025

There's a difference between being selfless and being dumb...

Wiaan Mulder is the latter one...

— ANAND (@Anand200130) July 7, 2025

Selfless captain Wiaan Mulder

— Uday Shekhawat (@cricketstarud) July 7, 2025

South Africa 𝟔𝟐𝟔/𝟓 vs Zimbabwe 🏏🇿🇦🇿🇼

South African Captain Wiaan Mulder 𝟑𝟔𝟕*

Just 33 runs short of Brian Lara’s record….

And he’s declared 🤯🤯🤯

What on earth was he thinking⁉️ pic.twitter.com/Lbjm19bnYl

— Ladbrokes (@Ladbrokes) July 7, 2025

Wiaan Mulder saved Lara's record. He's a big fan of Lara, so maybe that's why the record didn't break today.#ZIMvRSA pic.twitter.com/wrCH29EhJv

— . (@CricCrazyDeepak) July 7, 2025

With this decision, I lost all the respect on Wiaan Mulder😞

— Krishna JSP (@Krishna4JSP) July 7, 2025

Wiaan Mulder to Wiaan Mulder
South Africa ye kya kar diya 😭
Lara ka record to Tod leta pic.twitter.com/1x5QIrExnQ

— Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) July 7, 2025

“Wiaan Mulder” was about to break the record of Lara

What happened to the sport i love? 😭

— Hassan (@ddegea_szn) July 7, 2025

I thought Kohli's declaration on 254 was the benchmark for being selfless in this era. Wiaan Mulder just took that to another level by pausing his innings on 367. 400+ was there for the taking and to stop yourself short of such a coveted Test record is unreal! #Lara #ZimvSA

— Aditya Iyer (@Iyr_Adi) July 7, 2025

Wiaan Mulder

Why would you declare man?

— Sriram R. (@mosquitobatman) July 7, 2025

Proteas should have batted atleast for another hour after lunch. For Wiaan Mulder to get to his 400+ runs.

— Stephen Maquba (@MaqubaStephen) July 7, 2025

South Africa lead the series after 328-run victory in the opening Test

Meanwhile, the tourists lead the series by 1-0 after registering a 328-run win in the first Test in Bulawayo. Lhuan dre-Pretorious announced his arrival by clobbering 153 on debut, while Corbin Bosch also mustered a century in South Africa's first-innings total of 418/9.

Although Sean Williams made 137 in Zimbabwe's first innings, the hosts still conceded a 167-run lead. With an improbable 537 to chase down in the fourth innings, Zimbabwe folded for 208.