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.
| 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 |
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) – joint 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. Rohit’s rich 2019 World Cup stats, which include 5 centuries, helped the Indian star to win back-to-back MoM awards for his team.
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