Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for most Man of the Match (MoM) awards in international cricket — 76 across Tests, ODIs, and T20Is combined. No one has passed this since he retired in 2013.
Here's the breakdown:
All formats combined (Top 5):
Sachin Tendulkar (India) — 76
Virat Kohli (India) — numbers vary by source (63–71) since he's still playing; this count keeps rising
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) — 58
Jacques Kallis (South Africa) — 57
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) — 50
Format-wise leaders:
Format | Leader | Awards |
|---|---|---|
Test | Jacques Kallis | 23 |
ODI | Sachin Tendulkar | 62 |
T20I | Virat Kohli | 15–16 |
A few things worth flagging:
Tendulkar's tally is almost entirely ODI-driven (62 of 76). His longevity — 24 years, 664 international matches — is the real driver here, not just peak skill. He got an award roughly once every 8-9 games.
Kohli is the only realistic threat to this record, and depending on when you check, sources report different numbers because he's active and the count updates. Don't trust any single figure as final — check a live source if the exact current number matters to you.
Kallis leads Tests specifically with 23, ahead of Sangakkara and Ponting (16 each). This makes sense — he was a genuine all-rounder (batting + bowling + slips), so he had two ways to earn an award in a low-scoring format.
Shahid Afridi has zero Test MoM awards despite 43 across white-ball cricket — his entire international career leaned toward the shorter formats.
England has no players in the top tier of this list, which is a genuine oddity given how much cricket they've played (over 1,000 Tests, the most of any nation). Worth noting if you're drawing conclusions about "greatest match-winners" — award counts are skewed by how much white-ball cricket a player's era and team schedule involved, not just skill.
One caution on how to read this stat: MoM awards are heavily biased toward batsmen in high-scoring formats (ODI, T20I) because dramatic centuries are easier to notice and reward than a tight bowling spell or a crucial 40 not out. That's why 21 of the top 30 all-time MoM winners are batters and only one — Muttiah Muralitharan — is a specialist bowler. If you're trying to identify the "best match-winner" rather than just the most-awarded player, this stat undercounts bowlers and fielders by design.
