Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza yet again played a massive role in helping his side win the first T20I against Ireland. The Chevrons won the thrilling encounter on the last ball of the match chasing down 148 runs with only one wicket in hand. Though Raza didn't finish the game, he scored a match-winning 65 off just 42 balls with five fours and two sixes to his name.
Earlier in the game, Raza also shone with the ball picking up three wickets in his four-over spell conceding only 28 runs. Undoubtedly, he won the player of the match, his 14th in the format, for his all-round heroics. He is now at the joint- second position in the list of players to win most player of the match awards in men's T20I cricket. Mohammad Nabi has also won as many awards in his T20I career so far with India's Virat Kohli winning the most, 15, player of the match awards so far.
With Zimbabwe set to play two more T20Is against Ireland in next few days, Sikandar Raza has a chance to either level or even break Kohli's all-time record in the shortest format. Winning a player of the match in almost every match is not easy but Raza has won seven consecutive player of the match awards in last seven wins for Zimbabwe. This shows how important the veteran cricketer is for his team.
As far as the list of players to win most man of the match awards is concerned, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma are next having won it 13 and 12 times respectively. Interestingly, as many as seven players including Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan have won the award 11 times
Cricketers to win most player of the match awards in T20Is
| Players |
Awards |
| Virat Kohli (India) |
15 |
| Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) |
14 |
| Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan) |
14 |
| Suryakumar Yadav (India) |
13 |
| Rohit Sharma (India) |
12 |
