Top 5 cricketers with the most Man of the Match award in Test cricket

Test cricket is the oldest form of the game. Teams compete for five days in a real test of their character, skills, and consistency. Winning the Player of the Match award in Test cricket is no easy feat.

When players struggle to win it even once, we have few of the most decorated players of all time who've won the award on quite a few occasions.

Only one Indian cricketer feature in the list of top 10 players with the most Player of the Match awards in Test match cricket at the moment.

Here we rank down the top 5 men who've won the Player-of-the-match awards the most number of times in test cricket.

#5 Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting

Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting have won the award on 16 occasions. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, the elegant wicketkeeper-batsman from Sri Lanka has played in 134 tests and scored 12,400 runs at an average of over 57.

In his legendary career, Sangakkara has scored 38 centuries in Test cricket and was the shining star of the golden generation of Sri Lankan cricket. His number of centuries and runs make him the most prolific Sri Lankan batsman of all time and the most prolific wicketkeeper-batsman in Test cricket history.

Right alongside Sangakkara is the retired former skipper of Australia, Ricky Ponting. Ricky Ponting was one of the most influential figures in his day and his contribution to the side was way more than just scoring tons of runs.

Apart from being such a great batsman, he was a great leader as well. In a period when cricket Australia battered opposition with ease, Ponting was the man behind it. Ponting has played in 168 Tests for Australia and scored well over 13000 runs.

#4 Shane Warne

The world has seen many great leg spinners but there is no doubt that Shane Warne is the greatest of all time.

A true match winner, a fighter, and most importantly, a legend, Shane Warne is as good as it gets. Shane Warne has played in 145 Tests and picked up 708 wickets. He stands second on the list of all-time wicket-takers in Test cricket.

Shane Warne has won the Player of the Match award on a commendable 17 times in Test match cricket and the first Australian to do so.

He has also won the Player of the Series award on eight occasions. Only Kallis and Muralitharan has won more Player of the Series award than Shane Warne.

#3 Wasim Akram

104 tests, 415 wickets, 25 five-wicket haul. Whenever the topic of greatest fast bowlers comes up, there is one name on everyone's lips and that name is the former Pakistani skipper, Wasim Akram.

Akram is often credited as being the founder of reverse swing, a style which troubled batsmen to great extent during the early 90s. The dangerous fast bowler from Lahore, Pakistan was a nightmare for batsmen around the globe in his days and his records speak for themselves.

Akram has played the least number of tests of all the mentioned gentlemen on this list but so was his potential that even after playing in far less number of tests, Wasim did win 17 Man of the match awards. His partnership with the fellow Pakistani fast bowler, Waqar Younis is often credited as being one of the greatest fast bowling duos of all time and there is little to argue.

#2 Muttiah Muralitharan

Talk about most number of test wickets, or the most number of 5-wicket hauls in test cricket, 10-wicket haul, the answer to all these questions is one man, one spinner who has done it all in test cricket, the man is none other than the spin wizard, the Sri Lankan legend- Muttiah Muralitharan.

Murli played in 133 tests, grabbing an unbelievable 800 wickets at an impressive average of 22.72. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Muttiah was a simply devastating bowler who ran the show with his genius.

It was often believed that if Muralitharan was on song then the match was 90% in the favor of Sri Lanka. So profound was his bowling style that even the greats, the legends couldn't tackle the spin wizard from Sri Lanka.

In his historic career, Muttiah Muralitharan was named as the Player of the Match on 20 occasions.

#1 Jacques Kallis

The South African legend is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and his presence on top of this iconic list justifies it. The former Proteas skipper was a complete all-rounder, capable of hurting the opposition with his splendid batting and bowling skills.

Kallis has won the Player of the Match award on a record 23 times during his legendary career. The historic South African played in 166 tests and scored 13,289 runs at a commendable average of well over 55. The South African legend also took an impressive 292 wickets.

One thing that did set Kallis apart was his sheer willpower and rock solid mentality which did get South Africa out of trouble on one too many occasions. Instances where the Proteas looked like in trouble, up stepped Kallis and helped his team.

In his illustrious career, Kallis has scored 45 centuries in Test cricket, the second most by any player.