Top 5 players with most Man of the match awards in Test cricket

In any team sport, collective efforts of all the personnel involved are of paramount significance for being successful. But that does not mean that a team's success depends solely on the cumulative efforts of the teammates.

Over the course of the evolution of sports, we have seen many brilliant individual performances from elite players who almost single-handedly won the games for their team. Every sports team generally has at least one elite player who brings the X-factor along with him.

For instance in football - players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been world class performers for whichever teams they have represented over the last decade and a half.

Test cricket is supposed to be the measuring medium which is used to analyze the skill set and temperament of any cricketer over the period of five days. In Test cricket - players like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Wasim Akram, and Jacques Kallis have enthralled cricket enthusiasts around the globe through their astonishing individual accomplishments.

There have been many cricketers who have displayed excellent levels of consistency in Test cricket and earned laurels for themselves and the nation's they have represented. This slideshow mainly features cricketers who managed to pile up magnificent match-winning performances consistently over the years in the Test format of the game.

Here are top five cricketers who have won the most number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket since its inception.

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Before entering the list, let us take a look at five players who narrowly missed out from this list-

Ricky Ponting - 16

Sachin Tendulkar - 14

Curtly Ambrose - 14

Steve Waugh - 14

Mahela Jayawardene - 13

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#5 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) - 16

Kumar Sangakkara

Legendary Sri Lankan batsman, Kumar Sangakkara has had a highly successful international career spanning over 15 years. He made his test match debut in the year 2000 against South Africa team and has been a persistent run accumulator for the island nation ever since.

He formed a lethal alliance with his former teammate and close friend, Mahela Jayawardene during his playing days and tormented the opposition bowling lineups by scoring runs relentlessly for the better part of the last decade.

The duo once put on a superlative partnership of 624 runs (in 2006) against the South African lineup which had the likes of Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Andrew Nel in their bowling ranks.

Kumar Sangakkara has won the Man of the Match award on 16 occasions during his storied Test cricket career. He is arguably Sri Lanka's second-biggest match-winner in Test cricket just behind the spin magician - Muttiah Muralitharan.

#4 Shane Warne (Australia) - 17

Spin wizard - Shane Warne

Shane Warne has been the most prolific wicket-taker in Test cricket for the Australian cricket team. He was a vital cog of the 'invincible' Australian team which conquered cricketing nations all around the world in the early 2000's. He has produced numerous monumental match-winning bowling performances in his Test cricket career.

Shane Warne is the second highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket with 708 scalps across 145 matches. He has 37 five wicket hauls (in an innings) and ten 10 wicket hauls(in a match) to his name. He won 17 Man of the Match awards in Test cricket during his 15-year international long career.

#3 Wasim Akram (Pakistan) - 17

Swing Sultan - Wasim Akram

Swing stalwart, Wasim Akram is widely regarded as the best left-arm fast bowler to ever play the game of cricket. He is renowned for his ability to swing the ball in both the ways through the air and also off the pitch.

The fast bowler hailing from Lahore, has been the most prolific wicket-taker for Pakistan national team in Test cricket as he picked up 414 wickets from 104 matches he played during his 17-year long career.

He is one of the biggest match winners to emerge from Pakistan. His individual performances were vital to the Pakitan team's success during his playing days. He won the Man of the Match award on 17 occasions during his Test cricket career.

#2 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) - 19

Muralitharan

Srilankan spin phenomenon Muttiah Muralitharan is the most prolific wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket. He has picked up a whopping 800 wickets from 133 Test matches he played during his 18-year long career. He has 67 five-wicket hauls to his name and has also picked up 10 or more wickets in a match on 22 occasions.

He is considered as the biggest match winner to emerge from Sri Lanka. His individual bowling contributions have played a vital role in most of Sri Lanka's famous Test victories.

He won the Man of the Match award on 19 occasions during his legendary career due to some phenomenal individual performances.

#1 Jacques Kallis (South Africa) - 23

Jaques Kallis

Jaques Kallis is widely acknowledged as one of the best all-rounders to have played the game of cricket. On numerous occasions, he turned the match in his team's favor by performing outstandingly in the dire situations. He was a game changer with both bat and ball and was an X-factor player in the South African line-up for a long period of time.

He has been the most prolific run scorer for the South African team in Test cricket and played many match winning knocks over the years for his team. He ended his career as the third highest run scorer in Test cricket behind only Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar.

He has won the most number of Man of the Match awards in the history of Test cricket.