Who chooses the Player of the Match in IPL?

A Player of the Match award in cricket tournaments like the Indian Premier League is given to someone who either plays the biggest role in a team's win or gives the best individual performance in a match. More often than not, the player with the highest impact on the team's win gets rewarded. In some instances, the best individual performer from two given teams in a match gets rewarded.

When there are multiple players who nearly have the same impact on their team, the player who stepped up in other departments would be rewarded. Likewise, if such an impact is negligible, the best individual performer, irrespective of the eventual result of the match, gets rewarded. There are instances where some of the decisions could be controversial.

To win this award, it is not necessary to score the most number of runs by playing the most number of balls, or claim the most number of wickets in a match. However, it is essential to have an impact on team's win or perform exceedingly well as an individual. While some matches might have an easy player to pick as a winner, most matches have a tough choice to be made.

A Player of the Match is selected from a panel of members who are usually present in the commentary box. It might be commentators, broadcasters ranging who usually have been coaches, former cricketers, or analysts in the past. In some special cases, the on-field umpires will be consulted for having observed the match in the closest possible way.

For the commentators selected for a match, their job is not only to describe action and statistics, but also explain action based on analysis. They take into account of the factors such as the entry point of a batter or a bowler, their performance in different phases of the game, the nature of the surface, the impact a player had on the match, and many other crucial factors.

Player-of-the-Match panel can include,

• Commentators
• Former cricketers
• Umpires
• Match Referees
• Other Match Officials

A case study of a non-ideal Player of the Match Award execution

While these are the conditions on paper, there are some instances when the most deserving players do not necessarily get the Player of the Match award. For example, in the match between RCB and RR in the IPL 2025, the 3-time runner ups had to chase a total of 158 runs. Virat Kohli and Phil Salt opened the innings for RCB.

The Bengaluru-based franchise lost Salt in the very first over, which brought Devdutt Padikkal into the crease. Going by the entry points, Padikkal had a slightly tougher challenge. The eventual scores of Virat and Padikkal were 73*(54) and 61(35) respectively. While Kohli had a strike rate of 135.19, Padikkal had an exceptional strike rate of 174.29.

It is worth noting that Kohli scored his fifty in 43 balls and later accelerated towards the ending moments of the match. Going by impact, Padikkal had a better chance of winning the Player of the Match award. Apart from a run out, Kohli did nothing exceptional in the field to pip Padikkal. Yet, he was awarded by the panel, a decision which Kohli found surprising himself.