Player of the Match awards (cricket) explained

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 16 man of the match 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

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

Most Player of the Match awards in Tests

Awards	Player	Team	Matches	Career
23			166	1995–2014
19			133	1992–2010
17			104	1985–2002
			145	1992–2007
16			134	2000–2015
			168	1995–2012
14			98	1988–2000
			168	1985–2004
			200	1989–2013
13	Steve Smith		109	2010–present
			149	1997–2014
	Joe Root		149	2012–present
Last updated: 26 October 2024^[5]

Most Player of the Series awards in Tests

Awards	Player	Team	Series	Career
11	Ravichandran Ashwin		43	2011–present
	Muttiah Muralitharan		61	1992–2010
9			61	1995–2013
8			28	1971–1992
			33	1973–1990
			46	1992–2007
7			43	1985–2002
			60	1994–2015
6			21	1978–1991
			27	1988–2000
	Joe Root		49	2012–present
			54	1985–2004
Last updated: 3 November 2024^[6]

One Day International cricket

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

Most Player of the Match awards in ODIs

Awards	Player	Team	Matches	Career
62			463	1989–2012
48			445	1989–2011
41	Virat Kohli		295	2008–present
32			328	1996–2014
			375	1995–2012
			398	1996–2015
31			187	1975–1991
			311	1992–2007
			404	2000–2015
30			299	1990–2007
			308	1984–2003
Last updated: 7 August 2024^[7]

Most Player of the Series awards in ODIs

Awards	Player	Team	Series	Career
15			108	1989–2012
11	Virat Kohli		72	2008–present
			111	1989–2011
9			60	1996–2008
8			71	1999–2019
7			40	1975–1991
			49	2008–2019
			71	2000–2019
	Shakib Al Hasan		73	2006–present
			75	1992–2007
			77	1995–2012
			80	2004–2019
Last updated: 7 August 2024^[8]

Twenty20 International cricket

Note: Players in bold are still active in T20I cricket.

Most Player of the Match awards in T20Is

Awards	Player	Team	Matches	Career
17	Sikandar Raza		96	2013–present
16	Suryakumar Yadav		78	2021–present
	Virandeep Singh		84	2019–present
			125	2010–2024
14	Mohammad Nabi		129	2010–present
	Rohit Sharma		159	2007–2024
Last updated: 15 November 2024^[9]

Most Player of the Series awards in T20Is

Awards	Player	Team	Series	Career
7			46	2010–2024
5	Suryakumar Yadav		22	2021–present
	Wanindu Hasaranga		23	2019–present
	Babar Azam		36	2016–present
			42	2009–2024
	Shakib Al Hasan		45	2006–present
Last updated: 15 November 2024^[10]

All formats

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

Most Player of the Match awards in international cricket

Awards	Player	Team	Matches	Tests	ODIs	T20Is
76			664	14	62	0
67	Virat Kohli		538	10	41	16
58			586	4	48	6
57			519	23	32	2
50			594	16	31	3
49			560	16	32	1
45	Shakib Al Hasan		447	6	27	12
43			524	0	32	11
42			430	12	30	0
	Rohit Sharma		488	4	24	14
41			308	10	31	0
			401	11	30	0
			483	8	23	10
			652	13	22	6
Last updated: 15 November 2024^[11]

Shared awards

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.^[12] 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.^[13] It was the first time that a whole team had been given the Man of the Match award.^[14]

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.

Team Man of the Match awards

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.

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.^{[15] [16]} On 1 September 1996, Pakistan team has been awarded man of the match for their team performance against England for their 2 wicket win.

Joint awards in Tests

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.^[17]

	Match	Venue	Date	MoM 1	MoM 2	Result
1	India v Sri Lanka	Nagpur	27 December 1986			won
2	New Zealand v West Indies	Christchurch	12 March 1987			won
3	New Zealand v Sri Lanka	Hamilton	22 February 1991			Drawn
4	New Zealand v Australia	Auckland	12 March 1993			won
5	New Zealand v Pakistan	Christchurch	24 February 1994			won
6	Zimbabwe v Pakistan	Harare	31 January 1995			won
7	England v South Africa	Johannesburg	30 November 1995			Drawn
8	Australia v South Africa	Johannesburg	28 February 1997			won
9	South Africa v Zimbabwe	Harare	11 November 1999			won
10	South Africa v Zimbabwe	Bloemfontein	17 November 2000			won
11	Australia v South Africa	Sydney	2 January 2002			won
12	South Africa v England	London	31 January 2003			won
13	Pakistan v South Africa	Lahore	17 October 2003			won
14	South Africa v England	Johannesburg	14 January 2010			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.

	Match	Venue	Date	MoM 1	MoM 2	Result
1	Pakistan v West Indies	Port of Spain	4 March 1977			won
2	New Zealand v India	Wellington	21 February 1981			won
3	New Zealand v India	Auckland	13 March 1981			Drawn
4	England v West Indies	London	28 June 1984			won
5	West Indies v New Zealand	Port of Spain	29 March 1985			Drawn
6	India v Australia	Chepauk	18 September 1986			Tied
7	Pakistan v India	Chepauk	3 February 1987			Drawn
8	England v Sri Lanka	London	25 August 1988			won
9	Australia v Pakistan	Faisalabad	23 September 1988			Drawn
10	West Indies v Australia	Kingston	1 March 1991			Drawn
11	England v Sri Lanka	London	22 August 1991			won
12	West Indies v South Africa	Bridgetown	18 April 1992			won
13	England v New Zealand	Auckland	24 January 1997			Drawn
14	West Indies v India	Georgetown	17 April 1997			Drawn
15	South Africa v Pakistan	Johannesburg	14 February 1998			Drawn
16	Pakistan v India	Kolkata	16 February 1999			won
17	Sri Lanka v Australia	Kandy	9 September 1999			won
18	Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka	Harare	4 December 1999			Drawn
19	England v South Africa	Durban	26 December 1999			Drawn
20	Sri Lanka v South Africa	Kandy	30 July 2000			won
21	India v Australia	Chepauk	18 March 2001			won
22	Sri Lanka v Bangladesh	Colombo	6 September 2001			won
23	Sri Lanka v West Indies	Colombo	29 November 2001			won
24	South Africa v Pakistan	Faisalabad	24 October 2003			Drawn
25	Sri Lanka v Pakistan	Colombo	12 July 2009			won
26	Pakistan v Australia	London	13 July 2010			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.^[18]

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.^[19]

Joint awards in One Day Internationals

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			won
2	New Zealand v Australia	Wellington	26 March 1986			won
3	India v New Zealand	Nagpur	31 October 1987			won
4	Australia v India	Sydney	20 January 1992			won
5	Pakistan v New Zealand	Port Elizabeth	13 December 1994			won
6	Australia v Sri Lanka	Sydney	20 January 1996			won
7	India v Zimbabwe	Centurion	7 February 1997			won
8	New Zealand v England	Auckland	2 March 1997			won
9	Pakistan v India	Sharjah	26 March 2000			won
10	New Zealand v Sri Lanka	Sharjah	17 April 2001			won
11	Pakistan v New Zealand	Rawalpindi	7 December 2003			won
12	South Africa v New Zealand	Port Elizabeth	30 November 2007			won
13	South Africa v Pakistan	Johannesburg	17 March 2013			won
14	New Zealand v Sri Lanka	Dunedin	23 January 2015			won
15	New Zealand v Zimbabwe	Harare	4 August 2015			won
16	Zimbabwe v Afghanistan	Harare	21 February 2017			won
17	Afghanistan v Ireland	Greater Noida	10 March 2017			won
18	South Africa v Australia	Bloemfontein	4 March 2020			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			won
2	India v England	Pune	5 December 1984			won
3	Australia v West Indies	Sydney	12 February 1985			won
4	India v South Africa	Kolkata	10 November 1991			won
5	Zimbabwe v Pakistan	Harare	22 February 1995			Tied
6	Zimbabwe v England	Harare	1 January 1997			won
7	South Africa v India	East London	4 February 1997			won
8	West Indies v Australia	Georgetown	21 April 1999			Tied
9		Johannesburg	12 March 2006			won
10	South Africa v Sri Lanka	Georgetown	28 March 2007			won
11	Zimbabwe v Bangladesh	Bulawayo	16 August 2009			won
12	England v India	London	11 September 2011			Tied
13	West Indies v Pakistan	Gros Islet	19 July 2013			Tied
14	Zimbabwe v Afghanistan	Bulawayo	24 October 2015			won

Notes and References

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