Wiaan Mulder aborted Mission 400. Could any Indian batter do the same?

India Today

18 hours ago

In a world where most people won't even walk away from free Wi-Fi, Wiaan Mulder casually turned his back on cricketing immortality.On Monday at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, with Zimbabwe's bowlers bowling like they'd just finished a double shift on the field, Mulder was on 367*. The pitch was flatter than your neighbour's sense of humour, the sun was shining, time was on his side, and history had quietly taken a seat at the edge of the boundary.advertisementBrian Lara's 400*? Within reach.
And what did Mulder do?He looked at the scoreboard, gave history a polite nod, and went off to start bowling.Yes. He gave up a shot at the highest individual Test score ever to go and mop up Zimbabwe.Who does that?Honestly, in cricket's glittering history of stat-padding, milestone-chasing, and "just 50 more, skip," this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. The cricketing gods were probably halfway through prepping the Mulder mural at Lord's before he said, "Right lads, let's get some wickets."And now, the million-dollar question: how many Indian cricketers would have done what Mulder did?Let's be honest. Not many. Maybe a couple. But not many.India loves cricket like Italians love pasta. But where Italians eat it, Indians worship it. Our cricketers are demigods. A square cut for four becomes a spiritual experience. The sound of a ball hitting a bat is basically a lullaby to a billion people.And milestones? Oh, we love a milestone or two.We threw a party when Sachin reached 100 international hundreds - even though we lost that match. Broadcasters still show his 200* in ODIs like it happened last week. Meanwhile, Dravid once declared the innings in Multan with Tendulkar stranded on 194*. To this day, you can't say "Multan" in Mumbai without getting a dirty look.But there have been a few Mulders in Indian cricket.Virat Kohli, in 2019, was on 254* against South Africa. He could've had a triple ton for breakfast. But no - he declared. That was pure Kohli: job done, let's get to work. (Never mind he retired before hitting 10,000 Test runs. He was never about the stat chase anyway - more like, "Win the match, look good doing it.")MS Dhoni? Oh, he's the patron saint of selflessness. In the 2014 T20 World Cup semi-final, he defended the last ball so Virat could hit the winning runs. Not Test cricket, sure, but still. That's the man who walked off into retirement in the middle of a Test series without even a farewell match. Try getting an Indian fan to forgive the BCCI for that.Sunil Gavaskar, on the other hand? He stuck around for that sweet 10,000-run landmark—and fair play to him. He was the first to get there, and it mattered.advertisementAnd this is the thing - in Indian cricket, individual brilliance is a form of team service. Tendulkar scoring a hundred felt like India winning, even if we lost. Kohli batting like a machine gave everyone hope. Dhoni finishing games? That was therapy.But Wiaan Mulder, that lad, just tore up the script. Wiaan Mulder enters the history books with a stunning 367* against Zimbabwe #ZIMvSA | : https://t.co/EvFis53jyH pic.twitter.com/uSpsmGXlFO— ICC (@ICC) July 7, 2025He scored a triple hundred on his debut as captain. Pushed past 350 like it was a Sunday jog. And when 400 was right there, at touching distance, he stepped back and said, "That's enough. Let's go bowl."Imagine what Twitter would do if an Indian batter did that. The poor guy's WhatsApp would explode. #Just50MoreBro would be trending for a week.With four-day Tests creeping in and draws being hunted to extinction, this might be the last time we see a batter get this close to Lara's 400*. And to see someone walk away from it? It's both beautiful and totally ridiculous.advertisementIn the end, Mulder's name might not be etched next to Lara's in the record books, but you can bet your last slice of stadium samosa that cricket fans won't forget what he chose not to do.Because sometimes, the most unbelievable stories in cricket are the ones where a player says, "No thanks. I've done enough."- Ends