Winning the Man of the Match award is the aim of every cricketer playing the sport. The award is given to the player who performs the best from both teams.
Often it is seen that the players have nerves on debut and are unable to perform well. On the other side, there are also players who are at their best on debut and end up winning the Man of the Match award. In this article, we will look at the nine such Indian players who have done so in T20I cricket.
1. Dinesh Karthik – 1st Indian to win Man of the Match on T20I debut
Dinesh Karthik was the first Indian to win the Player of the Match award in T20Is. He scored 31 runs against South Africa and helped India win their maiden T20I in 2006.
2. Pragyan Ojha -1st Indian bowler to win Man of the Match on T20I debut
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha made his T20I debut against Bangladesh in ICC T20 World Cup 2009. He bowled a match-winning spell of 4/21 for the team.
3. Subramaniam Badrinath
S Badrinath played only one T20I in his career and won the Man of the Match award in that game. He scored 43 runs against West Indies in a one-off T20I in 2011.
4. Axar Patel – 1st Indian all-rounder to win Man of the Match on T20I debut
All-rounder Axar Patel took the Player of the Match award home for his spell of 3/17 against Zimbabwe on debut in 2015.
5. Barinder Sran
Left-arm pacer Barinder Sran returned with figures of 4/10 against Zimbabwe on his debut in 2016 and was adjudged the Player of the Match.
6. Navdeep Saini
Express fast bowler Navdeep Saini won his maiden Player of the Match prize on debut against West Indies. He took three wickets and gave away only 17 runs.
7. Ishan Kishan
Last year, Ishan Kishan scored a match-winning half-ton on T20I debut against England and won the Man of the Match award at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
8. Harshal Patel
Another player to have accomplished the feat last year is Harshal Patel, who won the prize for scalping two wickets against New Zealand on debut.
9. Ravi Bishnoi
The most recent entry on the list is Ravi Bishnoi, who joined the elite list with a spell of 2/17 on debut against West Indies yesterday in Kolkata.
