Every cricketer has a childhood dream of representing his/her country and to fulfil their dream they work hard and stay in the top position from the very first day. If the cricketer is really impressive he gets a chance to play for the country and participate in the ICC Tournament and help them win matches and that youngster grabs the M.O.M Award in the ICC tournaments. Winning a Man of the Match in the ICC tournament is really a big thing.
Talking about the Indian youngsters, on various occasions Indian young guns have performed when they got the opportunity to play for the team. Playing in the Indian team isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but if you’re the lucky one you have to prove yourself at every step to stay in the team. Performance is really the stepping stone to success. International Cricket Council (ICC) organizes some tournaments like Champions Trophy, World Cup, T20 world cup etc. In this article, we will talk about the talented youngest Indian cricketers to win the M.O.M Award in the ICC Tournaments.
1. Yuvraj Singh – 18 years and 299 days
Yuvraj Singh is known for his attacking batting. When the former left-handed batsman used to stay in the crease, he would showcase his destructive power hitting. Yuvraj won his Man of the Match award at the age of 18 against Australia in the year 2000 in the ICC knockouts.
At that time he scored 84 runs off just 80 balls and helped India to a total of 265 runs and the mighty Aussies only scored 240 runs and in the end, he was declared as the man of the match. Looking at his performance, Yuvraj became the youngest Indian cricketer in 2000 to win the M.O.M award in the ICC Tournaments.
2. Sachin Tendulkar – 18 years and 314 days
It was in the 1992 world cup when India was 147-5 in the 40th over and the situation looked very tough against Pakistan and then at number 5 came the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and played a decent knock of 62 balls 54 runs and took India to 216 in 50 overs, and then it was Indian bowlers who destroyed Pakistan’s batting attack and stopped them at 173 and because of Tendulkar’s batting performance in a pressure situation made him win the Man of the Match.
In the same world cup when he was 18 years 317 days he won another Man of the Match against Zimbabwe where he scored a brilliant 81 runs. For team India, Tendulkar was one of the finest players world cricket had ever seen.
3. Rohit Sharma – 20 years and 143 days
Rohit Sharma is the pre-eminent expert of the Indian team. Rohit Sharma was just 20 years old when he was given a chance to play for India in the 2007 T20 World Cup under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. India was facing South Africa in a knockout game and was struggling and when the score was 61-4 team India needed a miracle to survive and the young Hitman turned out to be a surprising package.
Rohit scored a crucial half-century in just 40 balls and with the help of MS Dhoni India managed a total of 153 in 20 overs and restricted South Africa to 116 and Rohit Sharma was awarded Man of the Match for his half-century. Not only he batted but also impressed with his fielding skills, he did a quick throw and Justin Kemp was dismissed by a run-out.
4. Virat Kohli – 20 years and 329 days
Current Indian Captain Virat Kohli has also won a Man of the Match as a youngster and that too in an ICC tournament. In the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. India had to defeat the West Indies as it was one of the most crucial games for the team.
Indian bowlers bundled the West Indies line-up on 129 in the second Innings India was struggling on 12-2 and then Virat Kohli showed his class and scored 79 runs off 104 balls and the team managed to win the game by 7 wickets and the 20-year-old Virat Kohli was declared Man of the Match.
