5 weirdest gifts given to Player of the Series/Match in cricket
Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world. Almost every continent has one T20 league now. The T20 league organizers try to sign the best players of the world so that their tournament receives the maximum viewership. The bigger the audience, the more income the organizers can earn via sponsorship.
Sponsors of T20 leagues help the organizers with the financial aspect of the tournament. In case you didn't know, the sponsors provide a pre-determined sum of money to the organizers so that they can conduct the competition smoothly and display the respective sponsors' advertisement, thereby giving them publicity.
Some sponsors also provide the prize money in cash or in kind to the players, who perform the best in the tournament. Over the years, fans would have seen the top performers in cricket taking bikes and cars home after winning the Player of the Series award. However, here's a list of five weirdest prizes which left the cricket fans scratching their heads.
#1 Sherfane Rutherford received 1/2 acre land in USA for Global T20 Canada performance
Sherfane Rutherford helped the Montreal Tigers win the Global T20 Canada 2023 competition in Brampton. The Caribbean star scored 220 runs in the tournament. He also played a match-winning knock of 38 runs in the final.
During the post-match presentation, the organizers awarded him with 1/2 acre land in the United States instead of cash prize for Player of the Series award. Fans on social media were curious to know about the location of Rutherford's award.
#2 Wrestling-style belts in International League T20
The inaugural edition of the International League T20 (ILT20) was held in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year. In the IPL, the batter who scores the most runs receives the Orange Cap, while the bowler with the most wickets gets the Purple Cap.
However, in ILT20, the organizers introduced wrestling-style belts as awards for the top performers. The batter with the most runs got a Green Belt, while the bowler with the most wickets received a White Belt.
#3 Luke Wright received Rice Cooker as Man of the Match award
Former England stars Luke Wright and Eoin Morgan participated in the 2012/13 Dhaka Premier League. The tournament roped in local electronics giant 'Walton' as a sponsor.
Instead of giving cash rewards to the players, the company gave away blenders and rice cookers. Wright won a Rice Cooker as a prize in one of the matches.
#4 2.5 kg fish as Man of the Match award in a cricket match in Kashmir
To draw the attention of authorities towards the poor outfield at a ground in Kashmir, the local organizers decided to keep a 2.5 kg fish as the prize for the Man of the Match award.
The idea was to divert the public's attention to the league and the poor playing conditions. A social media user posted the above photo in September 2020 from Tekipora Kupwara of Kashmir, and it went viral.
#5 Shoe laces and bat grip as Man of the Match award in India vs Australia cricket match
While the above-mentioned prizes were given in leagues, fast bowler Jhye Richardson once received shoe laces and a bat grip for his Man of the Match award-winning performance in an international cricket match against India.
In January 2019, Richardson bowled a brilliant spell of 4/26 in the first ODI of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Surprisingly, he received bat grip and shoe laces for dismissing Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, and Ravindra Jadeja.