Most Man of the Series in Test cricket: Who has won maximum Man of the Series awards in Test matches?

Most Man of the Series in Test cricket: Ravichandran Ashwin has won his ninth Man of the Series award in Test cricket today.

Before the start of the recently concluded two-match Test series against New Zealand, India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was in vicinity of surpassing various greats of the game in the list of most wickets in Test matches.

With 427 wickets in 81 Tests at an average and strike rate of 24.12 and 52.1 respectively to his name, Ashwin has bettered the likes of Wasim Akram (414), Harbhajan Singh (417) and Shaun Pollock (421).

Ashwin, 35, must be now having eyes on surpassing former New Zealand captain Sir Richard Hadlee (431), former Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath (433), former India captain Kapil Dev (434) and former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn (439) in the same list.

In two Tests in Kanpur and Mumbai, Ashwin picked 14 wickets at an average and strike rate of 11.35 and 44.1 respectively to win the Man of the Series award for the ninth time in his career.

Most Man of the Series in Test cricket

In a milestone which isn’t being applauded as much as it should be, readers must note that Ashwin has now won more Man of the Series award than former Pakistan captain Imran Khan (8), Hadlee (8) and former Australia spinner Shane Warne (8).

A ninth such award means that Ashwin has equaled former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis. The importance of Ashwin’s milestone can be assessed from the fact that he has required only 81 Tests across 33 series for his ninth series record. Kallis, on the other hand, had won the same number of awards in 166 Tests across 61 series.

With 11 Man of the Series awards under his belt, former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (133 matches across 61 series) is the only cricketer which is ahead of Ashwin in this list.

Ashwin, whose Test debut had come against West Indies in Delhi a decade ago, had won his first Man of the Series award in his maiden series for picking 22 wickets in three matches at an average and strike rate of 22.90 and 46.3 respectively.

It is further worth mentioning that this is the third time when Ashwin has won two Man of the Series awards in a calendar year. The previous two occasions being in 2015 (away series against Sri Lanka and home series against South Africa) and 2016 (away series against West Indies and home series against New Zealand).

UPDATE: Ravichandran Ashwin now has nine Player of the Series awards in Test cricket. Having won it for the 10th time in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, Ashwin is only behind Muralitharan in this list.