This season, the Asia Cup will commence on the 9th of September and will end on the 28th of September. The United Arab Emirates will be the host of the Asia Cup 2025. Eventually, the question is: Which 5 players have earned the most Player of the Match honors in the Asia Cup?
There have been a lot of great players who have played in the Asia Cup in their careers. We won’t see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the Asia Cup 2025, as it is a T20 format tournament, and they have retired from the format. MS Dhoni, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahela Jayawardene, Sourav Ganguly, and Shahid Afridi are some of the greatest players to play the Asia Cup.
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Which 5 players have earned the most Player of the Match honors in the Asia Cup?
Virat Kohli (India)
There is surely no doubt that Virat Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen ever to play the game of cricket. He is the player who has won the most Player of the Match awards in the history of the Asia Cup, a total of six.
The most memorable and one of the best innings by a batter in the Asia Cup has to be his 183-run knock against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup.
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
Before Virat Kohli became the player to win the most man of the match awards, the record belonged to Sanath Jayasuriya. He is also the highest run-scorer in the history of the Asia Cup. Jayasuriya has an average of more than 50 in the Asia Cup.
One of the most memorable knocks of Sanath Jayasuriya in the Asia Cup came in the 2008 final. He scored 125 runs in 114 balls, and India were the opponents. Sanath has five man-of-the-match awards.
Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)
Very calm and an all-arounder batting deep and also bowls off-spin, Shoaib Malik also has five man of the match awards in the Asia Cup history. One of his very best Asia Cup innings came in the 2004 Asia Cup.
Pakistan was playing India, and there is always pressure in such matches. Shoaib Malik scored 143 runs and helped his team’s total go above 300. At the end, Pakistan won that match by 59 runs.
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Not only one of the greatest players for Sri Lankan cricket, but also in the world. Kumar Sangakkara has captained Sri Lanka for quite a long time as well. He is in the number two position for the most runs in the history of the Asia Cup.
It was the 2014 Asia Cup when Sri Lanka lost a lot of wickets against India. Kumar Sangakkara, with his style of play, scored a hundred and helped his team win. He has a total of four Man of the Match awards.
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
One of the players who can single-handedly turn the match around has to be Shahid Afridi. He is a finisher with an aggressive batting approach and bowls quick leg spin. Shahid Afridi also has a total of four man-of-the-match awards in the Asia Cup.
One of the most exciting innings of Shahid Afridi came in 2014, when they needed 10 runs in one over, just two wickets left against India. He hit two sixes in two balls and won the match. Shahid Afridi was the Player of the Tournament in 2010.
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