Though cricket is a team game, most often, it comes down to individual performances to win matches. When two or three players click for a team on a given day, they are very well in the driver’s seat to win that match.
In a tournament like the World Cup, every team would want their star performers to shine bright to win high-pressure games.
For instance, Sachin Tendulkar, India’s master batsman, has won the highest number of “Player on the Match” awards in World Cup matches – 9 in total.
This article will talk about those individual star performers who brought in their A-game most often in a highly esteemed 50-over World Cup games – the cricketers with the most number of “Player of the Match” awards in the ODI World Cup.
Most “Man of the Match” Awards in ODI World Cup
| PLAYER | MoM AWARDS in WC | MATCHES PLAYED |
|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 9 | 45 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 7 | 28 |
| Glenn McGrath (AUS) | 6 | 39 |
| Lance Klusener (SA) | 5 | 14 |
| Graham Gooch (ENG) | 5 | 21 |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 5 | 23 |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 5 | 23 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 5 | 29 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 5 | 38 |
| David Boon (AUS) | 4 | 16 |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 4 | 17 |
| Mohammed Shami (IND) | 4 | 18 |
| Sourav Ganguly (IND) | 4 | 21 |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 4 | 34 |
| Aravinda de Silva (SL) | 4 | 35 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 4 | 37 |
Key Stats
5 MoM awards in 14 matches by Lance Klusener is an exceptional feat – the fastest to 5 MoM in the event. The South African all-rounder was also the “Player of the Tournament” in the 1999 World Cup for his 281 runs and 17 wickets.
Sachin, including his 9 in World Cup events, has accumulated a total of mighty 62 MoM awards in a total of 463 ODIs. Here’s the top ten list of the same.
Sachin Tendulkar, the youngest Indian player to play in ODI World Cup, featured in 6 ODI World Cup tournaments (1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011) – t highest with Javed Miandad, who also represented Pakistan in 6 editions of World Cup (1975, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1996)
Among the current cricketers, only Rohit Sharma, the current Indian captain, features in this esteemed list. 5 centuries, helped the Indian star to win back-to-back MoM awards for his team.
