Players with most POTM awards in T20 World Cup history
Fans have their eyes on the calendar as the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup will get underway on June 1. West Indies and USA will co-host the event. This will be the maiden ICC event in America and the nature of pitches is to watch out for. Meanwhile, here are the players with the most Player-of-the-Match awards in T20 WCs.
Shane Watson - 5 awards
Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson displayed many notable performances in his T20 WC career. Having played 24 games, the dasher hammered 537 runs at a strike rate of 140.94 (50s: 5). The tally also includes 22 scalps as he received the POTM award five times. He was adjudged the Player of the Tournament at the 2012 World T20 (249 runs and 11 wickets).
Mahela Jayawardene - 5 awards
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene also owns 5 POTM awards in the competition, having featured in 31 games. His tally of 1,016 runs at a strike rate of 134.74 is the second most for a batter in the tournament's history. Besides six fifties, he owns a ton as well. Jayawardene starred in Sri Lanka's title-winning run in 2014.
Chris Gayle - 5 awards
West Indies star Chris Gayle also received the honor five times in his 33-match T20 WC career. He scored 965 runs at a strike rate of 142.75 in the competition (50s: 7). The southpaw remains the only batter with multiple tons in the competition (2). Gayle was a part of WI's title-winning campaigns in 2012 and 2016.
Virat Kohli - 7 awards
Indian ace Virat Kohli tops this list, having been named the POTM seven times across 27 matches in the competition. The batter is the highest run-scorer in the tournament with 1,141 runs. Kohli averages an astronomical 81.50, the highest in the event among batters with over six appearances He is the also only player with more than 10 fifty-plus scores in the tournament (14).
