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5 Indian players with the most Man of the Match awards

Yuvraj Singh receiving an award
Yuvraj Singh receiving an award

At times, a batsman who scores a half-century is more impactful than a batsman who scores a century. A quickfire 40 can be more valuable than run a ball 80. Quality of knock matters more than the quantity and the same is true for bowlers. Often, such performances are rewarded through Man of the Mmatch awards.

There have been some great Indian players in ODIs and they have received many such awards. To measure the impact a player had on the game of cricket during his career, the Man of the Match award is a very good metric.

Let us take a look at the above-mentioned metric for 5 Indian players, who received the most number of man of the match awards for India during ODIs.


1. Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar played 463 ODIs and won 62 Man of the Match awards
Sachin Tendulkar played 463 ODIs and won 62 Man of the Match awards

Sachin Tendulkar played 463 ODIs during his career and he has received the Man of the Match award 62 times. The batting great scored 18426 ODI runs over the course of his career, while also picking up 154 wickets in the format.

Sachin Tendulkar's 62 awards translates to 7.4 matches per Man of the Match award. The Master Blaster is deservedly considered among the greatest ODI batsmen of all time.

2. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has won 36 Man of the Match awards
Virat Kohli has won 36 Man of the Match awards

One of the modern-day greats, Virat Kohli is currently the captain of the Indian cricket team. He has grown into one of India's most important players in all formats over the past decade. Virat Kohli has already scored 11867 runs, and this makes him one of India's all-time highest ODI run-scorers.

The Delhi-born batsman has played 248 ODIs so far and he has received the Man of the Match award 36 times. This translates to 6.89 matches per Man of the Match award.

3. Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly averages 10 matches per Man of the Match award
Sourav Ganguly averages 10 matches per Man of the Match award

Arguably, the greatest Indian captain ever, Saurav Ganguly played 311 ODIs during his career and received the Man of the Match award 31 times in those matches. This translates into 10.0 matches per Man of the Match award.

The former India skipper has 11363 runs to his name, including the highest-ever score by an Indian at the World Cup with his 183 against Sri Lanka in 1999.

4. Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh is an ODI great
Yuvraj Singh is an ODI great

Man of the tournament during India's world cup winning campaign in 2011, Yuvraj Singh has played 304 ODIs. With close to 9000 runs and more than 100 ODI wickets, Yuvraj Singh contributed immensely with both bat and ball through the course of his career.

The elegant left-hander won a total of 27 Man of the Match awards in his playing days. This translates into 11.2 matches per Man of the Match award.

5. Virender Sehwag

Viru was a true match winner
Viru was a true match winner

One of the most devastating batsmen of all time, Virender Sehwag was a true match winner. The explosive right-hander scored the second-ever double hundred in men's ODI cricket when he hit his way to an impressive 219 against West Indies

He played 251 ODIs in his career and he received the Man of the Match award 23 times. This translates into 10.9 matches per Man of the Match award.

Conclusion

Looking at the figures above, it is quite clear that Sachin Tendulkar has been the biggest match winner for India. Sachin had some doubters throughout his career, who always said that he could not win many matches for India in spite of his brilliant batting record, the figure calculated above puts these doubts to rest.

Virat Kohli comes in second with 36 Man of the Match awards. However, his impressive average of a Man of the Match award every 6.89 matches speaks volumes about his credentials as a match winner.

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