In Cricket, Man of the Match award is presented to a player who performs exceedingly well in a particular game. Rather it is a way to recognise the player’s brilliance in the game. Generally, the cricketers wins the MoM award either for his brilliant knock or an outstanding spell of bowling. However in this article we will discuss five such instances where it was handed to individuals who no one expected to win it.
The first name in the list is of Robin Singh. The match between the Lankans and India was a must-win game for the Sachin Tendulkar-led with Australia already qualifying for the final. The Men in Blue posted a mammoth score of 296 runs on the board in 50 overs on the back of Tendulkar’s 120 and Sourav Ganguly’s 85 this helping India register a 23 run victory. While it was a team-effort when it came to bowling, many expected Tendulkar to win the Man of the Match award for his superb hundred. But Robin Singh was the unlikely winner of the award. He had scored only four runs with the bat and took 2 wickets with the ball.
The second ones on the list are the groundsmen. This instance was the one of its kind in the history of cricket. It was the third Test between South Africa and New Zealand and was the dead rubber as the hosts had already pocketed the series. But the rain washed out the entire first day’s play. However, the groundsman Chris Scott and his dedicated team worked hard to drain the water and made the play possible on the second day. As it turned out, the groundsmen were on the field for more time than the players from both the teams thus bagging the MoM award.
The third name in the list is of the entire Pakistani team. It is a rare instance in cricket when the whole team has won the Man of the Match award. Only thrice it has happened in history. And one of the instances took place in Nottingham when Pakistan defeated England in the third and final ODI of the series. With no outright match-winning performance, it was decided that the whole team deserves the Man of the Match award. It was a complete team effort with almost every contributing well when needed.
The fourth name in the list is of David Warner. It was the second Test match between Australia and New Zealand in December 2011. A low-scoring affair saw the visitors beating the Aussies by seven runs. Chasing 241, Australia could only post 233 runs out of which David Warner alone had scored 123 and carried his bat as well. Doug Bracewell was the wrecker-in-chief for the hosts as he returned with match-winning figures of 9/60 in the game, it was clear that the Bracewell will get the Man of the Match award. However, to everyone’s surprise, David Warner was honoured with the award for his fighting knock in the second innings.
The last name in the list is of Gus Logie. While many are aware that Jonty Rhodes had once won the Man of the Match award for his fielding, very few know about Gus Logie’s heroics for the West Indies. It was the game between Pakistan and West Indies in the Champions Trophy in Sharjah. Walsh, for his figures of 4/31, was the favourite contender to win the MoM award. However, it was decided that Gus Logie is the deserved winner for his fielding. It was the field day for Logie as he had plucked three catches and had affected a crucial run-out of Javed Miandad.
