A Player of the Tournament award is given to one player who performs exceptionally well throughout the tournament on a consistent basis. While most batsmen or bowlers fail to deliver in clutch moments of the World Cup, there will be a few of them who defy the odds and come through with flying colours.
Among the consistently-performing players, there will be one player who would be performing in almost every game and give a great deal of motivation to his teammates. At times, life can be so cruel to the best performers as they end up not winning the World Cup.
Let’s now learn about the names of the five players who were adjudged the Man of the Tournament but did not win the World Cup.
1. Martin Crowe
Pakistan locked horns with England in the 1992 World Cup final and the Green Shirts defeated the Three Lions by 22 runs to clinch their maiden ICC ODI World Cup title. England’s Martin Crowe ended up on the losing side in the final and was adjudged the Man of the Tournament for finishing the competition as the leading run-scorer as he piled up 456 runs.
Also Read:
- 5 Players who hammered the Most Sixes in Cricket World Cups
- 6 Bowlers who took least innings to bag 33 fifers in Tests
2. Lance Klusener
South African cricket team immensely benefitted from the all-round services of Lance Klusener in the 1999 edition of the World Cup. The former Protea all-rounder was named the Man of the Tournament for his best performances. He took 17 wickets in 9 games and also delivered the goods with the bat, scoring 281 runs to his credit. Unfortunately, South Africa crashed out of the competition in the semi-final. The game between Australia and South Africa ended in a tie but Australia were declared the winner since they had more points in Super Six.
3. Sachin Tendulkar
India’s batting great Sachin Tendulkar gave absolutely everything in the 2003 edition of the ICC ODI World Cup tournament. The Master Blaster often led the batting attack by example, scoring 673 runs in that edition, a record that remained unbroken for 20 years before it was shattered by Virat Kohli in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar was named the Man of the Tournament for finishing the 2003 edition as the leading run-scorer but ended up on the losing side as Australia beat India in the final to clinch the title.
4. Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson has been unfortunate to have not won an ICC ODI World Cup as captain. He had a great chance to seal the deal and script history in the 2019 ODI World Cup where he steered the team all the way to the finals against England. The game ended in a tie, which was pushed to the Super Over for the first time in the tournament’s history. The Super Over also ended in a tie and the Three Lions were declared the winners due to the boundary count rule. Kane scored 578 runs in 10 games at an average of 61.77 and was named the Man of the Tournament.
5. Virat Kohli
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli finished the 2023 edition of the ICC ODI World Cup as the leading run-scorer with as many as 711 runs to his credit, in which he smashed four centuries and six fifties to his exceptional batting technique. Unfortunately, he ended up on the losing side in the finals as Australia got the better of Team India in the final to win the sixth ODI World Cup title.
Player of the Tournament who did not win the World Cup:
1992 – Martin Crowe
1999 – Lance Klusener
2003 – Sachin Tendulkar
2019 – Kane Williamson
2023 – Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/p8eoSbHEfL— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) November 19, 2023
