Former India captain Virat Kohli’s greatness in the history of ICC T20 World Cups can be observed from the fact that he is both the highest run-scorer and the only cricketer to have won as many as seven Player of the Match awards in the tournament.
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Although the eighth edition of this World Cup is currently underway in Australia, it is an astonishment of the greatest level that Kohli is only playing his fifth T20 World Cup right now. Kohli, who had first represented India in a T20 World Cup a decade ago, wasn’t part of the squad in 2007, 2009 and 2010. While Kohli hadn’t represented India at the time of the 2007 edition, he had made his ODI debut before the 2009 edition.
His T20I debut, meanwhile, had happened as part of a second-string squad to Zimbabwe right after the 2010 edition. Kohli’s participation in at least one more edition of T20 World Cup had it in it to further amplify his numbers in this world event.
Most Man of the Match in T20 World Cup history
| Player | Team | Span | Matches | Awards |
| Virat Kohli | India | 2012-2022 | 26 | 7 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies | 2007-2021 | 33 | 5 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | 2007-2014 | 31 | 5 |
| Shane Watson | Australia | 2007-2016 | 24 | 5 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 2007-2016 | 20 | 4 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 2007-2016 | 35 | 4 |
| Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | 2007-2016 | 34 | 4 |
A startling absence in the above mentioned table is that of any specialist bowler. Part of the current Indian squad, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is next on the list with three T20 World Cup Player of the Match awards under his belt. Other bowlers who have won the same number of match awards such as Ashwin are former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul and Australia spinner Adam Zampa.
Among active cricketers, Jos Buttler (3), Shakib Al Hasan (3), Sikandar Raza (3), Moeen Ali (2), Charith Asalanka (2), Curtis Campher (2), Bas de Leede (2), Wanindu Hasaranga (2), Aaron Finch (2), Martin Guptill (2), Ravindra Jadeja (2), Kusal Mendis (2), Amit Mishra (2), Mohammad Nabi (2), Mohammad Shahzad (2), Jason Roy (2), Shadab Khan (2), Shaheen Shah Afridi (2), Rohit Sharma (2), Taskin Ahmed (2), David Warner (2), David Wiese (2), Kane Williamson (2) and Suryakumar Yadav (2) have won more than one T20 World Cup match awards.
