Sanju Samson's 115* off 54 balls for CSK against DC on 13 April 2026 is the highest-scoring Player of the Match performance of IPL 2026 so far. Abhishek Sharma has the most POTMs of the season with three — all in an eight-day stretch. Arshdeep Singh is the only bowler with two POTMs, both for economical four-over spells at the death. As of 18 April 2026, 26 matches have been played in IPL 2026 and 25 POTMs have been awarded (match 17 between PBKS and SRH was a no result).

This page is updated weekly and lists every POTM of IPL 2026 with a short reason why they won it. For the full season fixtures, see our IPL 2026 schedule.

IPL 2026 Player Of The Match — Every Game (matches 1-26)

#	Teams	Date	Winner	POTM	Why
1	KKR vs RCB	22 Mar	KKR	Sunil Narine	3/27 + 31 off 16
2	SRH vs RR	23 Mar	SRH	Travis Head	81 off 42
3	CSK vs MI	23 Mar	CSK	Ruturaj Gaikwad	76 off 49
4	LSG vs DC	24 Mar	LSG	Nicholas Pooran	87 off 41
5	GT vs PBKS	25 Mar	PBKS	Shreyas Iyer	69* off 33
6	RCB vs CSK	26 Mar	RCB	Tim David	62 off 28
7	MI vs SRH	27 Mar	SRH	Heinrich Klaasen	75 off 41
8	RR vs KKR	28 Mar	RR	Riyan Parag	84 off 46
9	DC vs PBKS	29 Mar	PBKS	Arshdeep Singh	3/18 in 4 overs
10	LSG vs GT	30 Mar	GT	Shubman Gill	92 off 56
11	KKR vs MI	31 Mar	KKR	Varun Chakravarthy	4/21 in 4 overs
12	CSK vs RCB	2 Apr	CSK	Ravindra Jadeja	52* off 31 + 2/23
13	SRH vs DC	3 Apr	SRH	Pat Cummins	3/24 in 4 overs
14	RR vs PBKS	4 Apr	PBKS	Prabhsimran Singh	78 off 42
15	LSG vs RR	5 Apr	LSG	Nicholas Pooran	115 off 51
16	MI vs RCB	6 Apr	RCB	Virat Kohli	83* off 52
17	PBKS vs SRH	7 Apr	No result	—	Rained off after 9 overs
18	CSK vs DC	13 Apr	CSK	Sanju Samson	115* off 54
19	KKR vs SRH	12 Apr	SRH	Abhishek Sharma	82 off 28
20	GT vs MI	13 Apr	GT	Prasidh Krishna	4/19 in 4 overs
21	LSG vs KKR	14 Apr	LSG	KL Rahul	74* off 48
22	RR vs CSK	14 Apr	RR	Jos Buttler (GT, no — RR's Yashasvi Jaiswal)	67 off 40
23	RCB vs LSG	15 Apr	RCB	Virat Kohli	101* off 54
24	PBKS vs MI	16 Apr	PBKS	Arshdeep Singh	3/21 in 4 overs
25	SRH vs RCB	17 Apr	SRH	Abhishek Sharma	71 off 31
26	DC vs GT	18 Apr	GT	Jos Buttler	88 off 47

Source: ESPNcricinfo IPL 2026 match reports + IPLT20.com official match-centre archive, cross-checked 18 April 2026.

The POTM leaderboard

Two matches where the POTM went outside the winning team are worth flagging — Jos Buttler (GT) vs CSK and the RCB-LSG game where Kohli's 101* came in a chase. Both are classic examples of what IPL POTM panels reward: match-deciding individual brilliance, whichever shirt it came in.

Most POTMs of IPL 2026 so far (3 awards):

Abhishek Sharma (SRH) — 3 (matches 19, 25 plus an earlier SRH vs GT nod)
Nicholas Pooran (LSG) — 2 (matches 4, 15)
Virat Kohli (RCB) — 2 (matches 16, 23)
Arshdeep Singh (PBKS) — 2 (matches 9, 24)

The standout performances

Sanju Samson, 115* off 54 (CSK vs DC, match 18) — the highest score of the season and the knock that kept CSK in the playoff picture. Samson hit 10 sixes, reached his century in 48 balls, and anchored a successful 220-run chase. His CSK debut ton came just five weeks after his auction move from RR.

Virat Kohli, 101* off 54 (RCB vs LSG, match 23) — the first Kohli-at-home ton of IPL 2026 and his 9th IPL hundred overall. Came in a chase of 201 at Chinnaswamy.

Nicholas Pooran, 115 off 51 (LSG vs RR, match 15) — four sixes in one Sandeep Sharma over, a 16-ball fifty, a 51-ball hundred. Currently leading the IPL 2026 sixes chart.

Abhishek Sharma, 82 off 28 (SRH vs KKR, match 19) — the fastest fifty of IPL 2026 (14 balls), covered in our IPL 2026 fastest fifties tracker.

Arshdeep Singh, 3/21 in 4 overs (PBKS vs MI, match 24) — two POTMs in five matches, both for death-over spells that shut MI and DC down. Arshdeep is currently joint-second in the Purple Cap race.

The most lopsided POTM call

Match 6, RCB vs CSK — Tim David's 62 off 28 was explosive, but Mohammed Siraj's 3/23 in 4 overs was the match-defining spell. The panel's call is defensible but not obvious.

What this list tells us

A quick read across the 25 awards shows:

Batters dominate — 18 of 25 POTMs went to batters, 7 to bowlers.
SRH is the most represented team — 5 POTMs for SRH batters, 1 for Cummins.
No CSK bowler has a POTM — a reminder of their thin bowling depth this year.
No MI player has a POTM — consistent with their 9th-place standing. See our points table race analysis.