In IPL or any other league, the Player who played a match-winning innings for his team gets the Man of the Match award. But there are some rare matches where a losing team player gets the Man of the Match award due to his exceptional performance. There have been at most 20 matches where a losing team player has been awarded the Player of the Match award. So, let’s look at the ten Man of the Match Awards to losing team players in IPL.
1. Albie Morkel
It was the 49th match of IPL 2008 played at Chennai between CSK and Rajasthan. Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to bat first in the game. By Graeme Smith’s excellent innings of 91 runs, Rajasthan put in a respectable total of 211 runs. CSK came to chase the target, but no CSK batsmen could play a crucial innings. After the dismissal of Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel came to bat and scored a brilliant innings of 71 in just 40 balls. Even in bowling, Albie Morkel took two wickets as well. Even though CSK lost the match by ten runs, Albie Morkel got the Man of the Match award for his brilliant performance.
2. Yuvraj Singh
In the 24th match of IPL 2009, played between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore, RCB won the toss and chose to bat first. With the decent performance of the batting order, they scored 145 runs in 20 overs. In bowling, Yuvraj Singh took three crucial wickets. When Punjab came for batting, Yuvraj Singh opened the innings and scored 50 off 34 balls. Despite giving an all-round performance, Punjab lost the match by eight wickets. But for the excellent all-round performance, Yuvraj Singh got the Man of the Match award.
3. Anil Kumble
It is the only final in IPL history where the losing team player got the Player of the Match award. It was the Final match of IPL 2009, which Deccan Chargers and RCB played. In the game, RCB won the toss and decided to bowl first. From the 1st over, Anil Kumble started dominating Deccan Charger’s batters. Anil Kumble took crucial four wickets in the match and stopped Deccan Chargers to 143 runs. However, RCB could not chase that target and lost the final by six runs. Despite losing the finals, Anil Kumble got the Player of the Match award.
4. Yusuf Pathan
It has been over 15 years since the IPL and this magnificent innings played by Yusuf Pathan is the second-fastest century of the IPL and the fastest by an Indian. It was the 2nd match of IPL 2010 played between Rajasthan and Mumbai Indians. MI batted first and scored 212 runs in 20 overs. On the other hand, the Rajasthan Royals did not get a good start, but Yusuf Pathan did lose hope. In that match, Yusuf Pathan scored 100 of 37 balls. After completing his century, he immediately got run out, and Rajasthan lost the game by four runs. But Yusuf Pathan got the Player of the Match award for his destructive batting.
5. Sunil Narine
It is sporadic to see that a bowler takes fifers in a T20 match as the bowlers get only four overs to bowl, and Sunil Narine did the same. In the 17th match of IPL 2012 against Kings XI Punjab, KKR won the toss and decided to bowl first. From KKR, Sunil Narine bowled a fantastic spell, taking five wickets with an economy of 4.75, which restricted Punjab to just 134 runs. The target was reasonably achievable for KKR, but they could not chase it and lost the match by just two runs. Despite being on the losing side, Sunil Narine got the Player of the Match award for his exceptional bowling spell.
6. Dale Steyn
It was the 40th match of IPL 2012, where Deccan Chargers played against Mumbai Indians. In the beginning, MI won the toss and chose to bowl first. Due to the fall of wickets at regular intervals, the Deccan Chargers got all out at 100 runs. The target looked easily achievable for Mumbai Indians, but Dale Steyn made it hard. Dale Steyn bowled a terrific spell, taking two wickets by giving just ten runs in his four overs. This remarkable spell by Dale Steyn took the match to the 19th over, and MI won by five wickets. Even though the Deccan Chargers lost the match, Dale Steyn was awarded the Man of the Game for their terrific bowling performance.
7. Virat Kohli
It was the exact match where Virat Kohli scored his maiden IPL century, but unfortunately, RCB could not win that match. It was the 19th match of IPL 2016, where Gujarat Lions and RCB played against each other. RCB batted first, and with the help of Virat Kohli’s 100, they reached a total of 180 runs. However, the Gujarat Lions batted very well, chased the target in the last over, and won the match by six wickets. Despite RCB losing that match, Virat Kohli still got the Player of the Match award.
8. Adam Zampa
In this match, Adam Zampa’s IPL best bowling figure came. It was the 40th match of IPL 2016, where Rising Pune Supergiants played with Sunrisers Hyderabad. SRH won the toss and decided to bat first. SRH came to bat, and Adam Zampa single-handedly destroyed their batting lineup. In the match, Adma Zampa took six significant wickets with an economy of just 4.75. As a result, SRH could only score 137 runs. Unfortunately, Pune Supergiants could not chase the target and lost the match by a close margin of 4 runs. Adam Zampa became the Man of the game for the outstanding bowling spell.
9. Hashim Amla
In IPL 2016, Hashim Amla used to play for Kings XI Punjab. It was the 46th match of IPL 2016, where Punjab played against SRH. In the game, Punjab batted first, and Hashim Amla played an impeccable innings of 96 off 56 runs. With the help of his innings, Punjab scored 179 runs in 20 overs. From SRH, David Warner and Yuvraj Singh played crucial innings, which resulted in SRH’s victory by seven wickets. Even though Hashim Amla could not win the match for his team, he was awarded Man of the Match for his brilliant batting performance.
10. Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan has been one of the most consistent batsmen in IPL. But some of his mind-blowing innings went in vain, and the same happened against Punjab in IPL 2020. Delhi Capitals won the toss in the match and decided to bat first. By batting first, Shikhar Dhawan played an extraordinary innings of 106 off 61 balls, by which Delhi reached a respectable score of 164 runs. However, Punjab chased the target in the 19th over, winning the match by five wickets. Shikhar Dhawan got the Man of the Match award for his outstanding performance.
