In merely 11 years, he rose to the top of the table of a tournament that is 41 years old
The Asia Cup may not be taken seriously enough in comparison to
other major ICC tournaments, such as the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, or World Test Championship. However, that doesn’t make it any less competitive, given the fact that Asian giants like India, Sri Lanka, and PAK leave no stone unturned to humiliate each other on the field.
Therefore, for any team or individual, consistently performing is a tough cookie. And yet, one player has achieved this feat continuously for 11 years, accumulating the most Player-of-the-Match awards to set a record.
Who is he? If you cannot figure out the name, scroll down to find out.
Seven awards
Holder of the seven Player-of-the-Match awards in Asia Cup history, the player is none other than India’s own Virat Kohli. Kohli’s first award was won against Sri Lanka in 2012, followed by the second against Bangladesh. His third and fourth awards were grabbed in 2016 against Sri Lanka and PAK. In 2022, he grabbed his fifth award against Afghanistan by scoring his much-awaited 71st international century. Finally, he won his seventh award against Pakistan in 2023.
Given that Kohli has retired from the T20 format, he will miss this year’s Asia Cup, which is being played in the T20 format. With Kohli determined to play the 2027 ODI World Cup, we expect him to participate in the Asia Cup as well. If that happens, Kohli will have one last opportunity to add a few more Asia Cup centuries to his existing tally.
Sanath Jayasuriya
(Credit- BBC)
After Kohli, it is Sri Lanka’s former player Sanath Jayasuriya who won five awards in his Asia Cup career. Given that he retired before the T20 format was introduced in the tournament, he retired as the top run scorer in the ODI format. Not to forget, he is also the player with the most centuries in the ODI format.
Shoaib Malik
PAK’s Shoaib Malik is third on the list when it comes to winning the maximum Player-of-the-Match awards in Asia Cup history. His tally stands at four, and he shares the space with Kumar Sangakkara and Shahid Afridi.
Even though Sangakkara retired with more Asia Cup runs, Shoaib Malik is listed above him because he won the four awards in fewer matches, i.e., 17 compared to Sangakkara’s 23. Shahid Afridi also played 23 matches, and in terms of runs, he is nowhere near Malik and Sangakkara.
(Credit- The Hindu)
India’s chances
Unfortunately, apart from Kohli, no other Indian player has earned more than three awards. Therefore, it will be hard for an Indian player to surpass Kohli’s record, especially given the fact that the Asia Cup toggles between ODI and T20 formats. As we are aware, achieving a century in T20 is a massive challenge. Not to mention, given the smaller number of matches, the task is truly an uphill battle.
