In the sport of cricket, a Player of the Match award is given to an outstanding player in that particular match, 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 player of the match award became a regular feature in the mid-1980s. 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.
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.
In ODI matches Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the highest number of player of the match awards, with 62 in 463 matches. Sanath Jayasuriya is second with 48.
In Twenty20 Internationals, Virandeep Singh leads with 22 player of the match awards.
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 Career23 Jacques Kallis 166 1995–2014 19 Muttiah Muralitharan 133 1992–2010 17 Wasim Akram 104 1985–2002 Shane Warne 145 1992–2007 16 Kumar Sangakkara 134 2000–2015 Ricky Ponting 168 1995–2012 14 Curtly Ambrose 98 1988–2000 Steve Waugh 168 1985–2004 Sachin Tendulkar 200 1989–2013 13 Steve Smith 109 2010–present Mahela Jayawardene 149 1997–2014 Joe Root 149 2012–presentLast updated: 26 October 2024
Most Player of the Series awards in Tests Awards Player Team Series Career11 Ravichandran Ashwin 43 2011–2024 Muttiah Muralitharan 61 1992–2010 9 Jacques Kallis 61 1995–2013 8 Imran Khan 28 1971–1992 Richard Hadlee 33 1973–1990 Shane Warne 46 1992–2007 7 Wasim Akram 43 1985–2002 Shivnarine Chanderpaul 60 1994–2015 6 Malcolm Marshall 21 1978–1991 Curtly Ambrose 27 1988–2000 Joe Root 49 2012–present Steve Waugh 54 1985–2004Last updated: 3 November 2024
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 Sachin Tendulkar 463 1989–2012 48 Sanath Jayasuriya 445 1989–2011 45 Virat Kohli 315 2008–present 32 Jacques Kallis 328 1996–2014 Ricky Ponting 375 1995–2012 Shahid Afridi 398 1996–2015 31 Vivian Richards 187 1975–1991 Sourav Ganguly 311 1992–2007 Kumar Sangakkara 404 2000–2015 30 Brian Lara 299 1990–2007 Aravinda de Silva 308 1984–2003Last updated: 11 January 2026
Most Player of the Series awards in ODIs Awards Player Team Series Career 15 Sachin Tendulkar 108 1989–2012 12 Virat Kohli 72 2008–present11 Sanath Jayasuriya 111 1989–2011 9 Shaun Pollock 60 1996–2008 8 Chris Gayle 71 1999–2019 7 Vivian Richards 40 1975–1991 Hashim Amla 49 2008–2019 Yuvraj Singh 71 2000–2019 Shakib Al Hasan 73 2006–2023 Sourav Ganguly 75 1992–2007 Ricky Ponting 77 1995–2012 Mahendra Singh Dhoni 80 2004–2019Last updated: 7 August 2024
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 24 Virandeep Singh 122 2019–present 21 Sikandar Raza 133 2013–present 17 Suryakumar Yadav 113 2021–present 16 Virat Kohli 125 2010–2024 15 Sami Sohail 70 2019–presentLast updated: 30 June 2026
Most Player of the Series awards in T20Is Awards Player Team Series Career 7 Virat Kohli 46 2010–2024 6Suryakumar Yadav 28 2021–presentWanindu Hasaranga 30 2019–present 5 Babar Azam 41 2016–present David Warner 42 2009–2024 Shakib Al Hasan 45 2006–2024 Last updated: 30 June 2026
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 Sachin Tendulkar 664 14 62 0 71 Virat Kohli 556 10 45 16 58 Sanath Jayasuriya 586 4 48 6 57 Jacques Kallis 519 23 32 2 50 Kumar Sangakkara 594 16 31 3 49 Ricky Ponting 560 16 32 145 Shakib Al Hasan 447 6 27 12 Rohit Sharma 503 4 27 14 43 Shahid Afridi 524 0 32 11 42 Brian Lara 430 12 30 0Last updated: 11 January 2026
Most Player of the series awards in international cricket Awards Player Team Series Tests ODIs T20Is 22 Virat Kohli 168 3 12 7 20 Sachin Tendulkar 183 5 15 017 Shakib Al Hasan 162 5 7 5 15 Jacques Kallis 148 9 6 013 David Warner 126 5 3 5 Sanath Jayasuriya 176 2 11 0 12 Ravichandran Ashwin 105 11 0 1 Chris Gayle 141 2 8 2Last updated: 6 December 2025
Shared awards 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. It was the first time that a whole team had been given the Man of the Match award.
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. 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.
# Match Venue Date MoM 1 MoM 2 Result 1 India v Sri Lanka Nagpur 27 December 1986 Dilip Vengsarkar Maninder Singh won 2 New Zealand v West Indies Christchurch 12 March 1987 Richard Hadlee Ewen Chatfield 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 won 5 New Zealand v Pakistan Christchurch 24 February 1994 Shane Thomson Bryan Young won 6 Zimbabwe v Pakistan Harare 31 January 1995 Andy Flower Grant Flower 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 won 9 South Africa v Zimbabwe Harare 11 November 1999 Shaun Pollock Mark Boucher won 10 South Africa v Zimbabwe Bloemfontein 17 November 2000 Jacques Kallis Makhaya Ntini won 11 Australia v South Africa Sydney 2 January 2002 Justin Langer Matthew Hayden won 12 South Africa v England London 31 January 2003 Makhaya Ntini Graeme Smith won 13 Pakistan v South Africa Lahore 17 October 2003 Taufeeq Umar Danish Kaneria won 14 South Africa v England Johannesburg 14 January 2010 Dale Steyn Morne Morkel 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 Wasim Raja Colin Croft won 2 New Zealand v India Wellington 21 February 1981 Geoff Howarth Sandeep Patil 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 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 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 won 12 West Indies v South Africa Bridgetown 18 April 1992 Curtly Ambrose Andrew Hudson 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 won 17 Sri Lanka v Australia Kandy 9 September 1999 Aravinda de Silva Ricky Ponting 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 won 21 India v Australia Chepauk 18 March 2001 Harbhajan Singh Matthew Hayden won 22 Sri Lanka v Bangladesh Colombo 6 September 2001 Muttiah Muralitharan Mohammad Ashraful won 23 Sri Lanka v West Indies Colombo 29 November 2001 Chaminda Vaas Brian Lara 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 won 26 Pakistan v Australia London 13 July 2010 Salman Butt Simon Katich 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.
# 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.
# 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 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.