3 times an Indian cricketer won Player of the Match award in consecutive Tests
Winning the Player of the Match award is the aim of every cricketer. The organizers honor the best performer of the match with the award. It is challenging to win this award in Test cricket as the match is held over five days, and both teams get to play two innings.
Even if a player scores a hundred or records a five-wicket haul, it is not guaranteed that he will take home the Player of the Match award in Test matches. Sometimes, even a double century or a 10-wicket haul is not enough as there could be a triple centurion or a bowler with more than 10 wickets in the same match.
The aforementioned statement highlights how difficult it is to win the Player of the Match award in Tests, but there have been some Indian cricketers who have managed to win this prize in back-to-back Test matches.
Current Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja recently won the Man of the Match award in the first two Tests of the ongoing four-match series against Australia. He scored a half-century and scalped seven wickets in the Nagpur Test, which was followed by another top-quality bowling performance in Delhi.
Fans should note that this was not the first time an Indian player has won back-to-back Man of the Match awards in Test cricket. On that note, here's a list of the three Indians who did it before Ravindra Jadeja.
#1 Virat Kohli - vs. Sri Lanka, 2017
Current Indian batter Virat Kohli has struggled to score big in Test cricket of late, but there was a time when he used to bulldoze almost every opposition bowling unit. Kohli achieved the feat of winning the Man of the Match awards in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka back in 2017.
In the home series, Kohli won the award for scoring 213 runs in the Nagpur Test, followed by a Man of the Match award-winning performance in the Delhi Test, where he returned with scores of 243 & 50. India won that series by 1-0.
#2 Anil Kumble - vs. England and Pakistan, 2007
Former India Test captain Anil Kumble won back-to-back Man of the Match awards in 2007. He won the prize in the final Test of the series against England and then in the first Test against Pakistan.
Kumble scored 110 and took five wickets in the drawn Test against England, while he scalped seven wickets in the Delhi Test against Pakistan to help India win by six wickets.
#3 Irfan Pathan - vs. Zimbabwe, 2005
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan played only 29 Test matches, but managed to accomplish this rare feat. He won the Player of the Match award in consecutive Tests against Zimbabwe in 2005.
In the first Test at Queens Sports Club, Pathan bagged nine wickets and scored 52 runs. Later in the second Test at Harare Sports Club, he picked up 12 wickets and aggregated 32 runs. Unsurprisingly, he won the Player of the Match award in both Tests.