Every cricket fan remembers a player who single-handedly turned a match around.
It could be a match-winning hundred, a spell that ripped through the batting line-up or simply an all-round show that became the point of difference.
Such performances easily guarantee a Player of the Match (POTM) award. But who has won it more times?
Here’s a look at the players with the most Player of the Match awards in all formats combined.
Top 15 Most POTM Awards (Tests, ODIs, T20Is Combined)
| Player | Mat | Awards | Tests | ODIs | T20Is |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 664 | 76 | 14 | 62 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 565 | 71 | 10 | 45 | 16 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) | 586 | 58 | 4 | 48 | 6 |
| Jacques Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA) | 519 | 57 | 23 | 32 | 2 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (Asia/ICC/SL) | 594 | 50 | 16 | 31 | 3 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS/ICC) | 560 | 49 | 16 | 32 | 1 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 447 | 45 | 6 | 27 | 12 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 517 | 45 | 4 | 27 | 14 |
| Shahid Afridi (Asia/ICC/PAK) | 524 | 43 | 0 | 32 | 11 |
| Brian Lara (ICC/WI) | 430 | 42 | 12 | 30 | 0 |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 308 | 41 | 10 | 31 | 0 |
| Aravinda de Silva (SL) | 401 | 41 | 11 | 30 | 0 |
| Chris Gayle (ICC/WI) | 483 | 41 | 8 | 23 | 10 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (Asia/SL) | 652 | 41 | 13 | 22 | 6 |
| AB de Villiers (Afr/SA) | 420 | 39 | 5 | 27 | 7 |
Key Insights on Players with Most POTM Awards in International Cricket
Individual and Format-wise POTM Award Winners
Sachin Tendulkar has won the most Player of the Match awards in international cricket. He bagged 76 awards for India.
Virat Kohli and Tendulkar are the only players to claim 20 or more Player of the Series awards across all formats.
Jacques Kallis won 23 of his 57 POTM awards in Test cricket, the most by a player in the longest format. No other player has 20 POTM awards in Tests.
Tendulkar claimed 62 of his 76 POTM awards in ODI cricket, the most by a player in 50-over cricket. Sanath Jayasuriya and Kohli are the only other players with more than 40 POTM awards in ODIs.
Virandeep Singh (Malaysia) and Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) are the two players with more than 20 POTM awards in T20Is.
POTM Awards by Venue and Match Outcomes
Kohli (33+), Kallis (31) and Tendulkar (31) are the three players who have won more than 30 POTM awards in home fixtures across formats.
Viv Richards, meanwhile, has bagged the most POTM awards in away fixtures in international cricket, with 25 accolades for the West Indies.
Kohli (66+), Tendulkar (61) and Jayasuriya (55) have won more than 50 POTM awards in their respective teams’ victories across formats.
Tendulkar, meanwhile, has won the most POTM awards in losing causes in international cricket, recording nine instances.
POTM Awards by Captain and Wicketkeeper
Ricky Ponting has grabbed the most POTM awards as a captain in all formats combined, doing so 28 times for Australia.
Kumar Sangakkara leads the pack among wicketkeepers, with 36 POTM titles for Sri Lanka. Adam Gilchrist and Quinton de Kock are the other keepers with more than 30 accolades.
Most POTM Awards in ICC Tournaments
Kohli has bagged the most POTM awards in ICC tournaments – Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and WTC Final – with 15 awards to his name.
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