Winning the Player of the Match award is the dream of every cricketer. The organizers give that award to the best performer of the game from both teams. Generally, the award is given to the player from the winning team.
There have also been occasions where a player from a losing side took the trophy. But in this listicle today, we will look at the five instances when cricketers selflessly gave Player of the Match awards to their teammates because of their contribution in the team’s success.
1. Babar Azam gave Player of the Match award to Khushdil Shah
Lovely from Babar Azam 👏
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 9, 2022
He gives Khushdil Shah his POTM award for Khushdil’s 23-ball 41pic.twitter.com/JT4xeyjnoV
Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam scored a match-winning hundred in the first ODI against West Indies yesterday, but he decided to give the award to Khushdil Shah for his match-winning 23-ball 41*.
2. Gautam Gambhir shared Player of the Match award with Virat Kohli
54 Days 54 Facts
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) May 3, 2020
Day 40: Gautam Gambhir was named the man of the Match for his 150 against Sri Lanka in 2009 but he called his young team mate Virat Kohli on stage to share the award for his maiden ODI century.
*** Please Stay at Home ***
Back in 2009, Gautam Gambhir played registered his highest score in ODI cricket. However, he shared the trophy with Virat Kohli, who scored his first ODI hundred and supported Gambhir well.
3. Kuldeep Yadav shared Man of the Match award with Axar Patel
A touch of class from @imkuldeep18! 👍 👍#TATAIPL | #DCvPBKS | @akshar2026 pic.twitter.com/tgF3M4wOYo
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 20, 2022
In the recently-concluded IPL season, Kuldeep Yadav won the Man of the Match award for Delhi Capitals against Punjab Kings for his two-wicket haul. Even Axar Patel took two important wickets in that game, so Kuldeep shared the award with him.
4. Smriti Mandhana shared Player of the Match with Harmanpreet Kaur
Smriti Mandhana who was initially announced as the Player Of The Match told commentators to announce Harmanpreet Kaur as POTM as well.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 12, 2022
She said, “Harman deserved the award equally. ICC I believe has enough budget to give both of us seperate trophies (laughs)”. pic.twitter.com/x5WzaSVKi9
Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur starred in India’s win against West Indies in World Cup 2022. Both smashed a hundred each, but the award went to Smriti as she scored 123 runs. She decided to share the Player of the Match award with Kaur, who scored 109 runs.
5. Ashish Nehra shared Man of the Match award with Michael Hussey
” I will Share this Man of the Match with Mike Hussy ” ~ Ashish Nehra
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) May 23, 2015
Age is Just a Number!! pic.twitter.com/3UTWwvTe3e
Back in IPL 2015, CSK defeated RCB to book a place in the final match. Ashish Nehra’s three wicket-haul restricted RCB to 139/8 in 20 overs. Chasing 140 to win, CSK lost wickets at regular intervals, but Hussey’s fifty helped them win. So Nehra shared his trophy with Hussey.
