Winning a Man of the Match (MOTM) award for one’s country at an ODI Cricket World Cup is a matter of pride for every player.
Most Man of the Match awards in ODI World Cup history
| Position | Player | Country | Total WC Matches | Total MOTM awards |
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar | India | 45 | 9 |
| 2 | Glenn McGrath | Australia | 39 | 6 |
| 3 | Sir Vivian Richards | West Indies | 23 | 5 |
| 4 | Graham Gooch | England | 21 | 5 |
| 5 | Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 38 | 5 |
| 6 | Mark Waugh | Australia | 22 | 5 |
| 7 | Lance Klusener | South Africa | 14 | 5 |
| 8 | AB de Villiers | South Africa | 23 | 5 |
| 9 | Rohit Sharma* | India | 17 | 5 |
| 10 | Shane Warne | Australia | 17 | 4 |
Players with the most Man of the Match awards in ODI World Cups: From 2007 to 2023
Most Man of the Match awards at ODI World Cup 2007
| Position | Player | Country | Total WC Matches | Total MOTM awards |
| 1 | Matthew Hayden | Australia | 11 | 3 |
| 2 | Glenn McGrath | Australia | 11 | 3 |
| 3 | Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 11 | 2 |
The record for claiming the most number of Man of the Match awards is currently held by none other than Sachin Tendulkar. The legendary batter won as many as 9 MOTM awards during his ODI World Cup career for India. Across the 44 ODI World Cup matches he played, Tendulkar hammered 2,278 runs at an immaculate average of 56.95. He also took 8 wickets in the history of the tournament.
Australia’s Glenn McGrath is second on the list. The former right-arm pacer won six MOTM awards while playing for Australia. He featured in 39 ODI World Cup matches and took 71 wickets at a wily average of 18.20.
On this note, let us take a look at the top 10 list of players with the most Man of the Match awards in ODI World Cups.
Australia recorded their third consecutive ODI World Cup win in 2007. The Men in Yellow beat Sri Lanka in the summit clash. There were several star performers for Australia during the tournament, including Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath, who both won 3 Player of the Match awards in the ODI 2007 World Cup.
For Sri Lanka, Sanath Jayasuriya also won two MOTM awards.
Most Man of the Match awards at ODI World Cup 2011
| Position | Player | Country | Total WC Matches | Total MOTM awards |
| 1 | Yuvraj Singh | India | 9 | 4 |
| 2 | TM Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 9 | 2 |
| 3 | Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | 8 | 2 |
The 2011 ODI World Cup proved to be dominated by Team India, who lifted their second ODI World Cup title after a gap of 28 years. Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh had a superb campaign as he proved to be his side’s best player. He bagged four MOTM awards before also becoming the Player of the Tournament for his 362 runs and 15 wickets in the World Cup campaign.
The highest run-getter of the tournament, Tillakaratne Dilshan (500 runs at an average of 62.50) also received two MOTM awards.
Most Man of the Match awards at ODI World Cup 2015
| Position | Player | Country | Total WC Matches | Total MOTM awards |
| 1 | AB de Viliers | South Africa | 8 | 2 |
| 2 | Trent Boult | New Zealand | 9 | 2 |
| 3 | Shikhar Dhawan | India | 8 | 2 |
Australia recorded their fifth World Cup title at the 2015 ODI Cricket World Cup event. Interestingly, no Aussie player bagged at least two MOTM awards during the campaign. The likes of AB de Villiers, Trent Boult and Shikhar Dhawan won two MOTM awards each in the tournament.
Most Man of the Match awards at ODI World Cup 2019
| Position | Player | Country | Total WC Matches | Total MOTM awards |
| 1 | Rohit Sharma | India | 9 | 4 |
| 2 | David Warner | Australia | 10 | 3 |
| 3 | Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 8 | 3 |
Rohit Sharma had a dream ODI World Cup 2019, where he hammered five centuries. He also won four Player of the Match awards during the tournament.Rohit made 648 runs in the campaign, just one run more than David Warner. Warner scored 647 runs in 10 innings for Australia and also won three MOTM awards for his efforts. Apart from this, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan also bagged three MOTM awards. He made 606 runs at an average of 86.57 for his side.
