At a time when Wiaan Mulder should be praised for his staggering innings of unbeaten 367, the Proteas skipper is being panned widely by the cricket community. Mulder, who replaced injured Keshav Maharaj, set the tone and broke several records in his first match as the Test captain against Zimbabwe as he notched up 367* by the lunch break of Day 2 in the Test at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. With Brian Lara’s 400* in sight, it was Mulder’s time to enter the history books and shatter the long-standing record set by the West Indian legend against England in 2004. Only 33 shy of sitting on top of the elite list, Mulder decided to declare. South Africa’s scorecard read 626 for five. Mulder reasoned his declaration to former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock on Supersport. ‘Let The Legends Keep Really Big Scores’ “I thought we had enough and we need to bowl. Secondly, Brian Lara is a legend let’s be real. He got 401, or whatever it was, against England,” Mulder told Pollock. “For someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special. I think if I get the chance again, I would probably do the same thing.” The skipper further added by saying, “Speaking to Shuks (coach Shukri Conrad), he kinda said to me as well: ‘Listen, let the legends keep the really big scores'” Mulder asserted that Lara keeping the record was how it was meant to be. The Proteas’ captain’s “sacrificial” declaration to safeguard Lara’s record did not sit right with the cricket-loving fraternity on X, who were flummoxed by Mulder’s reasoning. Cricket Fans React Sharply Reacting to Mulder halting his Test innings at 367*, an X user (@raghav_bikh) wrote: “Incredibly patronising & disrespectful towards the Zimbabwean opposition. People conveniently forget that Lara’s 400 was on a road in a dead rubber with England having already won that Test series 3-0. Maybe we should stop putting it above Lara’s many actual matchwinning hundreds (sic).” A second user (@willis_macp) quipped that Mulder would perhaps spend the rest of his life saying he would have broken Lara’s record while appearing noble at the moment. Noble or Woke? Mark Taylor declared on 334* at Peshawar because he didn't want to go past Bradman. Clarke 329* they say was for the same reason but Hayden had already gone past him. One can understand the above 2 situations wrt sentiments this one is utter woke nonsense https://t.co/JloQou4iec — Prithvi (@Prithvi10_) July 7, 2025 Why not protect fellow countryman Hashim Amla’s record? That answer is going to create such a divide. He went past Amla’s 311* and rightly so because records are meant to be broken imo but then what does “let legends keep the bigger scores mean” You going to have more respect for opposition players than your own? 🤷‍♀️ — Eems (@NaeemahBenjamin) July 7, 2025 Another user (@FarziCricketer) joined the bandwagon and wrote: “I thought Wiaan Mulder’s declaration was the worst, until he opened his mouth. Well batted, but this is garbage stuff.” Also Read: Wiaan Mulder Rewrites History With 367* vs Zimbabwe; Records Highest-Ever Individual Score In… Sarcastic Shots Fired Some, however, mocked Mulder’s declaration with piercing jibes. Others simply gatecrashed the outrage. Sad and disappointed that Wiaan Mulder did not break Lara's Test record 400* Mainly because doing so would have forced Lara to come out of retirement to play the 3rd Test at Sabina Park vs Australia this weekend and try get the record again — Santokie (@Santokie89) July 7, 2025 There have been greater cricketers than Wiaan Mulder, but no one has trolled the cricket fraternity as much. What a declaration. What a legend. pic.twitter.com/GryALvGFfn — Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) July 7, 2025 Mulder, who came to bat at number three, now has the highest individual Test score posted in an away Test.