How Man of the Match Is Decided in Cricket?
The Man of the Match or the Player of the Match (POTM) is given to the individual who stands out during a sports match for their performance. It was first used in cricket, after which other sports began awarding outstanding players from a contest.
How Man of the Match Is Decided in Cricket?
There are a basic few parameters that reveal how the man of the match is decided in cricket. On most occasions, singling out a performer from a match is easy until the match goes very close and there is more than one significant contributor.
The Man of the Match or the Player of the Match (POTM), as the name suggests, is given to the individual who stands out in a team sport. It was first used in cricket, after which other sports began awarding outstanding players from a contest.
Criteria for selecting Man of the Match in Cricket
While the context of choosing a player for the "Man of the Match" (MOTM) award would change according to the format of the game - ODI, T20I or Tests - the performance-related factors more or less remain the same.
On-field Performance - Batting & Bowling
The biggest entertainers in a cricket match are batters and more often than not the Man of the Match award is given to the highest scorer in a game. This player is often the differentiator who played well under pressure or played a match-winning knock while coming to bat in a difficult situation. This drives home the point why Sachin Tendulkar has the most Man of the Match awards in cricket.
With time, bowlers have also found a place for this award. Single-handed performances from Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan or Australia’s Shane Warne have seen the spinner being given the Player of the Match award on numerous occasions.
Match Impact
With limited-overs cricket gaining more prominence than ever, the role of players having a big impact in a short time has also become relevant. In T20Is, lower-order batters are chosen specifically for their high strike rate and modern cricket has been awarding them MOTM for their crucial cameos.
All-Round Performance
There was a time when all-rounders took home all the glory of being the Man of the Match owing to their batting, bowling and fielding displays, mostly in Test matches. This is precisely why South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis has won the most Player of Match awards in Test cricket. With cricket moving more towards choosing players with specific roles, those instances have reduced.
Jacques Kallis//Getty
Who Decides Man of the Match in Cricket
While there are no specified laws as to who should be appointed to adjudge the Player of the Match, it is usually left to umpires and commentators to pick the special name. With the on-field and match officials being the closest to the match, closely monitoring and evaluating the players and their performances, they are the most suitable to pick the Man of the Match from the lot.
Umpires have a close eye on each individual’s display in batting or bowling, furling as well as the holistic impact. They regularly take inputs from the captain of the team during brief team meetings and mid-inning interviews.
Apart from the umpires, the commentary panel also plays a huge role in selecting the Player of the Match. This panel is filled with former cricket players and experts who regularly analyze and state expert commentary on players. Hence, they are more fitting than anyone else to pick the deserving player for the POTM award.
Interestingly, cricket has been inclined towards giving the POTM to a player from the winning team regardless of better contributions from an individual on the losing side. A good example of this would be India vs South Africa's 2nd T20I clash in 2022 in Guwahati, which India ended up winning. KL Rahul was awarded the Man of the Match for a knock of 57 for being on the winning side despite David Miller’s unbeaten 106 on a losing cause.
Hence, a player from a losing team needs to perform extraordinarily well to end up getting the POTM Award, and it isn’t a rare occurrence either. Sachin Tendulkar has ended up being the Man of the Match nine times from the losing side, Aravinda de Silva five times, Chris Gayle on six occasions, Javad Miandad five times and many more.
The player with the most Man of the Match Awards in Test cricket, the longest format of the game, is South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis. He has won it 23 times in red-ball cricket.
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar dominates this award in ODIs, winning it a whopping 62 times while former India captain and king of cricket Virat Kohli has won it the most number of times in T20Is - 16.
Sachin Tendulkar//Getty
Austria’s Andrea-Mae Zepeda has a unique record in this regard as the woman cricketer has won three consecutive POTM awards during a T20I series between Austria and Belgium. West Indies’ Hayley Matthews has also been the POTM throughout an entire series Australian in October 2023, despite losing the series 2-1.
FAQs
While a batter can bat for 50 overs in limited overs cricket and 2-3 days in Tests, a bowler doesn’t have the liberty to spend as much time on the crease. Hence, a batter has the chance to dominate the majority of a match, thereby having way more chance of making an impact than a bowler.
Former India captain Virat Kohli has won a total of 67 Man of the Match awards so far. He leads the list in T20Is with 16 POTM while having 41 awards in ODIs and 10 in Test cricket.
An M.A. in English Literature, Subhayan is an experienced journalist and sports writer. Having worked as a journalist at Hindustan Times, Subhayan covered diverse beats including sports, education, and health, showcasing his versatility and in-depth understanding of various subjects.