World Cup Player of the Tournament: The quadrennial ODI World Cup is the biggest tournament in cricket, and teams give their 100% to life the coveted trophy. All players bring their A-game and perform like it’s their last match.
The tension, intensity and pressure of a World Cup game is a level above other cricket matches. Despite all this, some players excel and outperform all their peers. Cricket is a team sport, but sometimes a single player can lead his team to victory. Many times it’s happened that a cricketer has single-handedly rescued his or her team from a difficult situation and won the match.
Just recently, Glenn Maxwell scored a double century while batting with severe cramps, and led Australia to a miraculous victory against Afghanistan after his team was reduced to 91-7 while chasing a 293-run target.
To award the singular most valuable performance by a player, the ICC decided to create the Player of the Tournament award (also called Player of the Series) in the World Cup in 1992. Since then, 8 players have been the recipient of this award. Today, we take a look at the entire list of players of the tournament winners in the ICC World Cup from 1992 to 2023.
Related:
ICC Cricket World Cup Golden Bat Winners List (1975-2023)
ICC Cricket World Cup Golden Ball Winners List (1975-2023)
VIRAT KOHLI is the Player of the Tournament 🏅
765 runs
11 innings
95.62 average
3 centuries, 6 fifties
6 catches
1 wicket#INDvAUS #CWC23 #CWC23Final pic.twitter.com/5HwdtXy7bL — ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 19, 2023
ICC World Cup Player of the Tournament Winners (1992 to 2023)
- The Player of the Tournament doesn’t necessarily have to be from the World Cup-winning team.
- Of the eight Player of the Tournament winners in World Cup history, 4 belong to the teams that won the title, 2 to the runner-ups and 2 to the teams that lost in the semi-finals.
- Sometimes, the achievements of a player outweigh others’ by such a huge margin that despite his team not even making it to the finals, he won the Player of the Series award.
- New Zealand’s Martin Crowe in 1992 and South Africa’s Lance Klusener in 1999 are examples of cricketers who won the Player of the Tournament award despite their teams being routed in the semis.
- India, New Zealand and Australia have won the award twice.
UPDATE: Virat Kohli won the Player of the Tournament Award in the 2023 World Cup.
ODI World Cup Player of the Tournament Winners | ||
| Year | Player | Achievements |
| 2023 | Virat Kohli (India) | 765 runs and 1 wicket |
| 2019 | Kane Williamson (New Zealand) | 578 runs and 2 wickets; captaincy |
| 2015 | Mitchell Starc (Australia) | 22 Wickets |
| 2011 | Yuvraj Singh (India) | 362 Runs and 15 wickets |
| 2007 | Glenn McGrath (Australia) | 26 wickets |
| 2003 | Sachin Tendulkar (India) | 673 runs and 2 wickets |
| 1999 | Lance Klusener (South Africa) | 281 runs and 17 wickets |
| 1996 | Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) | 221 runs and 6 wickets |
| 1992 | Martin Crowe (New Zealand) | 456 runs |
2023 World Cup Player of the Tournament Contenders
- Virat Kohli (India)
- Mohammed Shami (India)
- Rohit Sharma (India)
- Jasprit Bumrah (India)
- Glenn Maxwell (Australia)
- Adam Zampa (Australia)
- Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)
- Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand)
- Quinton de Kock (South Africa)