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Player of the Match awards (cricket)

Summary

In the sport of cricket, a Man of the Match or Player of the Match award is given to an outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact in the match. The term was originally used in cricket before being adopted by other sports. The award will usually be given to a player from the winning team, but if a team has lost but a player from the losing team has had an incredible performance then he can also be named as Man of the Match.

In Test cricket, the man of the match award became a regular feature in the mid-1980s.[1] It is usually awarded to the player whose contribution is seen as the most important in winning the game, but there have been many instances of a player on the losing team receiving the award.[2]

In Test matches, Jacques Kallis holds the record for the highest number of awards, with 23 in 166 matches, followed by Muttiah Muralitharan with 19 awards.[1]

In ODI matches Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the highest number of man of the match awards, with 62 in 463 matches.[3] Sanath Jayasuriya is second with 48.

In Twenty20 Internationals, Virat Kohli leads with 15 awards.[4]

Andrea-Mae Zepeda of Austria completed a clean sweep of POTM awards in a WT20I series against Belgium in September 2021. Hayley Matthews achieved the same feat for the West Indies against Australian in October 2023, despite her team losing the series 2–1.

Test cricket edit

Note: Players in bold are still active in international cricket.

Most Player of the Match awards edit

Awards Player Team Matches Career
23 Jacques Kallis   South Africa 166 1995–2014
19 Muttiah Muralitharan   Sri Lanka 133 1992–2010
17 Wasim Akram   Pakistan 104 1985–2002
Shane Warne   Australia 145 1992–2007
16 Kumar Sangakkara   Sri Lanka 134 2000–2015
Ricky Ponting   Australia 168 1995–2012
14 Curtly Ambrose   West Indies 98 1988–2000
Steve Waugh   Australia 168 1985–2004
Sachin Tendulkar   India 200 1989–2013
13 Joe Root   England 127 2012–present
Mahela Jayawardene   Sri Lanka 149 1997–2014
Steve Smith   Australia 106 2006–2024

Last updated: 21 January 2024[5]

Most Player of the Series awards edit

Awards Player Team Series Career
11 Muttiah Muralitharan   Sri Lanka 61 1992–2010
10 Ravichandran Ashwin   India 37 2011–present
9 Jacques Kallis   South Africa 61 1995–2013
8 Imran Khan   Pakistan 28 1971–1992
Richard Hadlee   New Zealand 33 1973–1990
Shane Warne   Australia 46 1992–2007
7 Wasim Akram   Pakistan 43 1985–2002
Shivnarine Chanderpaul   West Indies 60 1994–2015
6 Malcolm Marshall   West Indies 21 1978–1991
Curtly Ambrose   West Indies 27 1988–2000
Steve Waugh   Australia 54 1985–2004

Last updated: 7 January 2023[6]

One Day International cricket edit

Note: Players in bold are still active in international cricket.

Most Player of the Match awards edit

Awards Player Team Matches Career
62 Sachin Tendulkar   India 463 1989–2012
48 Sanath Jayasuriya   Sri Lanka 445 1989–2011
41 Virat Kohli   India 289 2008–present
32 Jacques Kallis   South Africa 328 1996–2014
Ricky Ponting   Australia 375 1995–2012
Shahid Afridi   Pakistan 398 1996–2015
31 Vivian Richards   West Indies 187 1975–1991
Sourav Ganguly   India 311 1992–2007
Kumar Sangakkara   Sri Lanka 404 2000–2015
30 Brian Lara   West Indies 299 1990–2007
Aravinda de Silva   Sri Lanka 308 1984–2003

Last updated: 5 November 2023[7]

Most Player of the Series awards edit

Awards Player Team Series Career
15 Sachin Tendulkar   India 108 1989–2012
11 Virat Kohli   India 120 2008–present
Sanath Jayasuriya   Sri Lanka 111 1989–2011
9 Shaun Pollock   South Africa 60 1996–2008
8 Chris Gayle   West Indies 71 1999–2019
7 Vivian Richards   West Indies 40 1975–1991
Hashim Amla   South Africa 49 2008–2019
Yuvraj Singh   India 71 2000–2019
Shakib Al Hasan   Bangladesh 73 2006–present
Sourav Ganguly   India 75 1992–2007
Ricky Ponting   Australia 77 1995–2012
Mahendra Singh Dhoni   India 80 2004–2019

Last updated: 19 November 2023[8]

Twenty20 International cricket edit

Note: Players in bold are still active in international cricket.

Most Player of the Match awards edit

Awards Player Team Matches Career
15 Virat Kohli   India 117 2010–present
14 Suryakumar Yadav   India 60 2021–present
Sikandar Raza   Zimbabwe 81 2013–2024
Mohammad Nabi   Afghanistan 115 2010–2024
13 Rohit Sharma   India 151 2007–2024
11 Virandeep Singh   Malaysia 67 2019–present
Mohammad Rizwan   Pakistan 89 2015–present
Shahid Afridi   Pakistan 99 2006–2018
David Warner   Australia 99 2009–present
Shakib Al Hasan   Bangladesh 117 2006–present
Mohammad Hafeez   Pakistan 119 2006–2021
Shadab Khan   Pakistan 92 2017–present

Last updated: 5 November 2023[9]

Most Player of the Series awards edit

Awards Player Team Series Career
7 Virat Kohli   India 50 2010–present
5 David Warner   Australia 40 2009–present
Babar Azam   Pakistan 31 2016–present
Shakib Al Hasan   Bangladesh 42 2006–present
4 Suryakumar Yadav   India 18 2021–present
Mohammad Rizwan   Pakistan 28 2015–present
Glenn Maxwell   Australia 36 2012–present
Mohammad Hafeez   Pakistan 48 2006-2021

Last updated: 7 January 2023[10]

All formats edit

Note: Players in bold are still active in international cricket.

Most Player of the Match awards edit

Awards Player Team Matches Tests ODIs T20Is
76 Sachin Tendulkar   India 664 14 62 0
66 Virat Kohli   India 522 10 41 15
58 Sanath Jayasuriya   Sri Lanka 586 4 48 6
57 Jacques Kallis   South Africa 519 23 32 2
50 Kumar Sangakkara   Sri Lanka 594 16 31 3
49 Ricky Ponting   Australia 560 16 32 1
44 Shakib Al Hasan   Bangladesh 430 6 27 11
43 Shahid Afridi   Pakistan 524 0 32 11
42 Brian Lara   West Indies 430 12 30 0
41 Vivian Richards   West Indies 308 10 31 0
Aravinda de Silva   Sri Lanka 401 11 30 0
Rohit Sharma   India 467 4 24 13
Chris Gayle   West Indies 483 8 23 10
Mahela Jayawardene   Sri Lanka 652 13 22 6

Last updated: 5 November 2023[11]

Most Player of the Series awards edit

Awards Player Team Series Tests ODIs T20Is
21 Virat Kohli   India 159 3 11 7
20 Sachin Tendulkar   India 183 5 15 0
17 Shakib Al Hasan   Bangladesh 155 5 7 5
15 Jacques Kallis   South Africa 148 9 6 0
13 Sanath Jayasuriya   Sri Lanka 176 2 11 0
12 David Warner   Australia 123 5 3 4
Chris Gayle   West Indies 141 2 8 2
11 Ravichandran Ashwin   India 100 10 0 1
Shaun Pollock   South Africa 107 2 9 0
Shivnarine Chanderpaul   West Indies 136 7 4 0
Ricky Ponting   Australia 147 4 7 0
Muttiah Muralitharan   Sri Lanka 155 11 0 0

Last updated: 19 November 2023[12]

Shared awards edit

Occasionally in international cricket awards are shared, sometimes between two players of the same side or players of both sides. On these occasions, the commentators and other awarding authorities held on to share the awards, without giving the award to a player of the winning team.[13] In Test cricket there have been rare instances when a joint award for man of the match or man of the series has been announced. However, in ODIs and Twenty20 internationals this is usually when a member of the losing team is the highest scorer, such as when Charles Coventry (194) and Tamim Iqbal (154) shared the award after Zimbabwe lost the match. In another interesting match held on 3 April 1996, the whole New Zealand team was awarded the Man of the Match award by adjudicator Basil Butcher who pronounced it a team performance.[14] It was the first time that a whole team had been given the Man of the Match award.[15]

There have been only three occasions, one in test cricket and two in ODI cricket, when the whole team has been awarded the man of the match by considering the team performance rather than individual performances.[13]

Team Man of the Match awards edit

In Test cricket, South Africa has been awarded Team man of the match award, in the West Indies tour in 1998/99 season. The match was won by South Africa by 351 runs and whole 11 players awarded the man of the match award.[13]

15–18 January
Scorecard
v
313 (92.5 overs)
Mark Boucher 100 (183)
Courtney Walsh 6/80 (24.5 overs)
144 (47.1 overs)
Brian Lara 68 (77)
Allan Donald 5/49 (13 overs)
399/5d (115.2 overs)
Gary Kirsten 134 (305)
Carl Hooper 3/117 (36.2 overs)
217 (75.2 overs)
Ridley Jacobs 78 (92)
Paul Adams 4/64 (21.2 overs)
South Africa won by 351 runs
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and Billy Bowden (NZ)
Player of the match: South Africa
  • West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
  • This is the first time that the West Indies lost a series 5–0.

In ODI cricket, New Zealand team has been awarded man of the match award for their team performances to 4 run victory against the West Indies on 3 April 1996.[16][17] On 1 September 1996, Pakistan team has been awarded man of the match for their team performance against England for their 2 wicket win.

3 April 1996
Scorecard
New Zealand  
158 (35.5 overs)
v
  West Indies
154 (49.1 overs)
Craig Spearman 41 (39)
Laurie Williams 3/16 (4.5 overs)
Roland Holder 49* (86)
Chris Cairns 2/17 (5.1 overs)
New Zealand won by 4 runs
Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana
Umpires: Clyde Duncan (WI) and Eddie Nicholls (WI)
Player of the match: New Zealand
  • West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
1 September 1996
Scorecard
England  
246 (50 overs)
v
  Pakistan
247/8 (49.4 overs)
Nick Knight 125* (145)
Wasim Akram 3/45 (10 overs)
Saeed Anwar 61 (59)
Adam Hollioake 4/45 (8.4 overs)
Pakistan won by 2 wickets
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Umpires: John Holder (Eng) and David Shepherd (Eng)
Player of the match: Pakistan

Joint awards in Tests edit

Joint awards are sometimes given to two players, either from the same team or one from each team. As of 2017, there have been 14 instances where two players from the same team were given the Man of the Match award in Test cricket.[18]

# Match Venue Date MoM 1 MoM 2 Result
1 India v Sri Lanka Nagpur 27 December 1986   Dilip Vengsarkar   Maninder Singh   India won
2 New Zealand v West Indies Christchurch 12 March 1987   Richard Hadlee   Ewen Chatfield   New Zealand won
3 New Zealand v Sri Lanka Hamilton 22 February 1991   Ian Smith   Andrew Jones Drawn
4 New Zealand v Australia Auckland 12 March 1993   Ken Rutherford   Danny Morrison   New Zealand won
5 New Zealand v Pakistan Christchurch 24 February 1994   Shane Thomson   Bryan Young   New Zealand won
6 Zimbabwe v Pakistan Harare 31 January 1995   Andy Flower   Grant Flower   Zimbabwe won
7 England v South Africa Johannesburg 30 November 1995   Jack Russell   Mike Atherton Drawn
8 Australia v South Africa Johannesburg 28 February 1997   Steve Waugh   Greg Blewett   Australia won
9 South Africa v Zimbabwe Harare 11 November 1999   Shaun Pollock   Mark Boucher   South Africa won
10 South Africa v Zimbabwe Bloemfontein 17 November 2000   Jacques Kallis   Makhaya Ntini   South Africa won
11 Australia v South Africa Sydney 2 January 2002   Justin Langer   Matthew Hayden   Australia won
12 South Africa v England London 31 January 2003   Makhaya Ntini   Graeme Smith   South Africa won
13 Pakistan v South Africa Lahore 17 October 2003   Taufeeq Umar   Danish Kaneria   Pakistan won
14 South Africa v England Johannesburg 14 January 2010   Dale Steyn   Morne Morkel   South Africa won

Until 2017, there have been 26 instances where one player from each team was given the Man of the Match award in Test cricket.[18]

# Match Venue Date MoM 1 MoM 2 Result
1 Pakistan v West Indies Port of Spain 4 March 1977   Wasim Raja   Colin Croft   West Indies won
2 New Zealand v India Wellington 21 February 1981   Geoff Howarth   Sandeep Patil   New Zealand won
3 New Zealand v India Auckland 13 March 1981   John Wright   Ravi Shastri Drawn
4 England v West Indies London 28 June 1984   Ian Botham   Gordon Greenidge   West Indies won
5 West Indies v New Zealand Port of Spain 29 March 1985   Vivian Richards   Ewen Chatfield Drawn
6 India v Australia Chepauk 18 September 1986   Kapil Dev   Dean Jones Tied
7 Pakistan v India Chepauk 3 February 1987   Imran Khan   Kris Srikkanth Drawn
8 England v Sri Lanka London 25 August 1988   Phil Newport   Ravi Ratnayeke   England won
9 Australia v Pakistan Faisalabad 23 September 1988   Allan Border   Ijaz Ahmed Drawn
10 West Indies v Australia Kingston 1 March 1991   Gus Logie   David Boon Drawn
11 England v Sri Lanka London 22 August 1991   Alec Stewart   Ravi Ratnayeke   England won
12 West Indies v South Africa Bridgetown 18 April 1992   Curtly Ambrose   Andrew Hudson   West Indies won
13 England v New Zealand Auckland 24 January 1997   Alec Stewart   Nathan Astle Drawn
14 West Indies v India Georgetown 17 April 1997   Shiv Chanderpaul   Rahul Dravid Drawn
15 South Africa v Pakistan Johannesburg 14 February 1998   Pat Symcox   Azhar Mahmood Drawn
16 Pakistan v India Kolkata 16 February 1999   Saeed Anwar   Javagal Srinath   Pakistan won
17 Sri Lanka v Australia Kandy 9 September 1999   Aravinda de Silva   Ricky Ponting   Sri Lanka won
18 Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka Harare 4 December 1999   Andy Flower   Russell Arnold Drawn
19 England v South Africa Durban 26 December 1999   Andy Caddick   Gary Kirsten Drawn
20 Sri Lanka v South Africa Kandy 30 July 2000   Arjuna Ranatunga   Lance Klusener   South Africa won
21 India v Australia Chepauk 18 March 2001   Harbhajan Singh   Matthew Hayden   India won
22 Sri Lanka v Bangladesh Colombo 6 September 2001   Muttiah Muralitharan   Mohammad Ashraful   Sri Lanka won
23 Sri Lanka v West Indies Colombo 29 November 2001   Chaminda Vaas   Brian Lara   Sri Lanka won
24 South Africa v Pakistan Faisalabad 24 October 2003   Gary Kirsten   Taufeeq Umar Drawn
25 Sri Lanka v Pakistan Colombo 12 July 2009   Nuwan Kulasekara   Fawad Alam   Sri Lanka won
26 Pakistan v Australia London 13 July 2010   Salman Butt   Simon Katich   Australia won

There was one rare instance where three players were given the man of the match award in Test cricket. This happened between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in February 1991 at Hamilton.[19]

# Match Venue Date MoM 1 MoM 2 MoM 3 Result
1 New Zealand v Sri Lanka Hamilton 4 March 1977   Ian Smith   Andrew Jones   Asanka Gurusinha Drawn

In one occasion in international cricket, man of the match was given to a non-player, specifically to the ground staff. In the third Test match between South Africa and New Zealand on 8 December 2000 at Johannesburg, the fifth day was delayed due to rain. However, with the help of the ground staff, managed by Chris Scott, the Head Groundsman, the play continued and the match ended in a draw.[20]

# Match Venue Date MoM Result
1 South Africa v New Zealand Johannesburg 8 December 2000 Chris Scott (Head Groundsman) and his crew Drawn

Joint awards in One Day Internationals edit

As of 2020, there have been 18 instances where two players from the same team were given the Man of the Match award in ODI cricket.

# Match Venue Date MoM 1 MoM 2 Result
1 New Zealand v Australia Dunedin 19 March 1986   Martin Crowe   Richard Hadlee   New Zealand won
2 New Zealand v Australia Wellington 26 March 1986   Wayne Phillips   Steve Waugh   Australia won
3 India v New Zealand Nagpur 31 October 1987   Sunil Gavaskar   Chetan Sharma   India won
4 Australia v India Sydney 20 January 1992   David Boon   Geoff Marsh   Australia won
5 Pakistan v New Zealand Port Elizabeth 13 December 1994   Aqib Javed   Waqar Younis   Pakistan won
6 Australia v Sri Lanka Sydney 20 January 1996   Mark Taylor   Shane Warne   Australia won
7 India v Zimbabwe Centurion 7 February 1997   Craig Evans   Paul Strang   Zimbabwe won
8 New Zealand v England Auckland 2 March 1997   Nathan Astle   Gavin Larsen   New Zealand won
9 Pakistan v India Sharjah 26 March 2000   Inzamam-ul-Haq   Waqar Younis   Pakistan won
10 New Zealand v Sri Lanka Sharjah 17 April 2001   Kyle Mills   Mathew Sinclair   New Zealand won
11 Pakistan v New Zealand Rawalpindi 7 December 2003   Yasir Hameed   Imran Farhat   Pakistan won
12 South Africa v New Zealand Port Elizabeth 30 November 2007   Jamie How   Brendon McCullum   New Zealand won
13 South Africa v Pakistan Johannesburg 17 March 2013   Hashim Amla   AB de Villiers   South Africa won
14 New Zealand v Sri Lanka Dunedin 23 January 2015   Luke Ronchi   Grant Elliott   New Zealand won
15 New Zealand v Zimbabwe Harare 4 August 2015   Martin Guptill   Tom Latham   New Zealand won
16 Zimbabwe v Afghanistan Harare 21 February 2017   Tendai Chatara   Sean Williams   Zimbabwe won
17 Afghanistan v Ireland Greater Noida 10 March 2017   Najeeb Tarakai   Rashid Khan   Afghanistan won
18 South Africa v Australia Bloemfontein 4 March 2020   Lungi Ngidi   Janneman Malan   South Africa won

Until 2018, there have been 14 instances where one player from each team was given the Man of the Match awards in ODI cricket.

# Match Venue Date MoM 1 MoM 2 Result
1 Australia v England Melbourne 1 January 1975   Ian Chappell   Dennis Amiss   England won
2 India v England Pune 5 December 1984   Dilip Vengsarkar   Mike Gatting   England won
3 Australia v West Indies Sydney 12 February 1985   Allan Border   Michael Holding   West Indies won
4 India v South Africa Kolkata 10 November 1991   Sachin Tendulkar   Allan Donald   India won
5 Zimbabwe v Pakistan Harare 22 February 1995   Bryan Strang   Saeed Anwar Tied
6 Zimbabwe v England Harare 1 January 1997   Paul Strang   John Crawley   Zimbabwe won
7 South Africa v India East London 4 February 1997   Gary Kirsten   Saurav Ganguly   South Africa won
8 West Indies v Australia Georgetown 21 April 1999   Mervyn Dillon   Steve Waugh Tied
9 South Africa v Australia Johannesburg 12 March 2006   Herschelle Gibbs   Ricky Ponting   South Africa won
10 South Africa v Sri Lanka Georgetown 28 March 2007   Charl Langeveldt   Lasith Malinga   South Africa won
11 Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Bulawayo 16 August 2009   Charles Coventry   Tamim Iqbal   Bangladesh won
12 England v India London 11 September 2011   Ravi Bopara   Suresh Raina Tied
13 West Indies v Pakistan Gros Islet 19 July 2013   Lendl Simmons   Misbah-ul-Haq Tied
14 Zimbabwe v Afghanistan Bulawayo 24 October 2015   Sean Williams   Dawlat Zadran   Afghanistan won

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Records / Test matches / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) /Most player-of-the-match awards". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Man-of-the-Match monopoly". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Records / One-Day Internationals / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) /Most player-of-the-match awards". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  4. ^ "Records / Twenty20 Internationals / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) /Most player-of-the-match awards". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  5. ^ "Records / Test matches / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-match awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Records / Test matches / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-series awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Records / One-Day Internationals / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-match awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Records / One-Day Internationals / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-series awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Records / Twenty20 Internationals / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-match awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Records / Twenty20 Internationals / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-series awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Records / Combined Test, ODI and T20I records / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-match awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Records / Combined Test, ODI and T20I records / Individual records (captain , players, umpires) / Most player-of-the-serves awards". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  13. ^ a b c "Stats: Shared Man of the Match awards". sportskeeda.com. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Fourth One-Day International – West Indies v New Zealand". Wisden 1997. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  15. ^ "4th ODI: West Indies v New Zealand at Georgetown, Apr 3, 1996 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  16. ^ "1995–1996 West Indies v New Zealand – 4th Match – Georgetown, Guyana". HowStat. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  17. ^ "4th ODI, New Zealand tour of West Indies at Georgetown, Apr 3 1996". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  18. ^ a b "Two players sharing the Man of the Match award in Tests". Cricket Country. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  19. ^ "2nd Test, Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand at Hamilton, Feb 22–26 1991". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  20. ^ "3rd Test, New Zealand tour of South Africa at Johannesburg, Dec 8–12 2000". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 March 2017.

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