Player of the Match awards (cricket)

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.