Player of the Tournament Winners in IPL History (2008–2025)

The IPL has showcased the world’s best cricketing talent for eighteen seasons. Each season produces outstanding performers who can single-handedly change a match. The Player of the Tournament award highlights a cricketer who has consistently delivered exceptional performances, be it with the bat, the ball or as an all-rounder. Over the years, the award has not only celebrated talent but also reflected the evolution of players who can dominate under pressure in high-stakes T20 cricket. Some players won once and never came close again. Some won multiple times. They all got it the hard way.

Player of the Tournament Winners in IPL History (2008–2025)

1. Shane Watson (2008)

Shane Watson won the Player of the Tournament award for the first time in the inaugural IPL season of 2008 with Rajasthan Royals. He scored 472 runs at a brilliant strike rate and took 17 wickets. He did both things well when the team needed it the most. Watson turned the match in Rajasthan Royals’ favour during that season. He was the right player at the right time in a brand new tournament that no one has yet fully understood.

2. Adam Gilchrist (2009)

Adam Gilchrist won the award in 2009 with Deccan Chargers. He scored 495 runs at a high strike rate and led Deccan Chargers to their first IPL title. Gilchrist was an explosive wicketkeeper-batsman who scored significant match-winning scores throughout the season. He spent his career opening the batting for Australia and hitting the bowlers hard from the first ball. He did the same in Hyderabad and did just that.

3. Sachin Tendulkar (2010)

Sachin Tendulkar won the award with Mumbai Indians in 2010. He scored 618 runs, including several half-centuries, and won the Orange Cap as the season’s highest run-scorer. Tendulkar performed consistently and led Mumbai Indians throughout the tournament. He was already a legend when the IPL started. He proved in 2010 that legends can still find new ways to remain relevant.

4. Chris Gayle (2011)

Chris Gayle won the award in 2011 with Royal Challengers Bangalore. He dominated the bowling attack and scored 608 runs, often making big scores. The Universe Boss came into the IPL and immediately made it clear that no bowling attack could stop him. He hit hard, hit early, and he did so repeatedly throughout the season.

5. Sunil Narine (2012)

Sunil Narine won the award with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012. He took 24 wickets and provided crucial breakthroughs during KKR’s title-winning campaign. Narine was a mysterious spinner who bowled at times when batsmen couldn’t read him. They still can’t always read him. He was unfit to play in 2012 and that’s why KKR became champions.

6. Shane Watson (2013)

Shane Watson won the award for the second time in 2013 with Rajasthan Royals. He scored 543 runs and took 13 wickets throughout the season, helping Rajasthan Royals in tough matches. Two Player of the Tournament awards in the first six seasons of the IPL are a testament to what Watson brought to the competition. He was a complete cricketer who rewards complete cricketers.

7. Glenn Maxwell (2014)

Glenn Maxwell won this award with Punjab Kings in 2014. He scored 552 runs with an aggressive strokeplay and even though PBKS could not win the title, he single-handedly finished the games. Maxwell was a batsman who could win this award even when his team failed. He was very impressive individually. In that season, he showed everyone what he was capable of.

8. Andre Russell (2015)

Andre Russell won the award with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2015. He scored 326 runs at an excellent strike rate and took 14 wickets. His explosive batting and ability to win matches with key bowling breakthroughs at the end of the innings made him vital for KKR. Russell hit the ball as hard as anyone in the tournament. He also bowled fast and caught things in the field. He was everywhere and he was effective everywhere.

9. Virat Kohli (2016)

Virat Kohli won the award in 2016 with Royal Challengers Bangalore. He scored a record 973 runs, including several centuries, in the best batting season in IPL history. No player had scored so many runs in a single IPL season. No one has been able to match him since. Kohli batted like a man who was ready to prove something and gave something that the tournament would never see again.

10. Ben Stokes (2017)

Ben Stokes won the award in 2017 with Rising Pune Supergiant. He scored 316 runs and took 12 wickets, which led his team to the final by consistently performing at crucial moments. Stokes contributed with bat, ball and fielding. He was everywhere in the tournament and it was because of players like him that the team reached the final.

11. Sunil Narine (2018)

Sunil Narine won the award for the second time with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018. He scored 357 runs and took 17 wickets, which shows his all-rounder value and has contributed consistently throughout the season. During this time, Narine has transformed himself from a pure bowler into a genuine all-rounder. The second award confirmed that this new invention has completely worked.

12. Andre Russell (2019)

Andre Russell won the award for the second time with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019. He scored 510 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 204.81, including 52 sixes, and took 11 wickets. He often single-handedly saved or propelled KKR forward in important games. Fifty-two sixes in a single season tells you everything about the kind of cricketer Russell is and what he was doing to the bowlers in 2019.

13. Jofra Archer (2020)

Jofra Archer won this award with Rajasthan Royals in 2020. He led RR’s bowling attack with pace and accuracy, taking 20 wickets even when the team was struggling overall. Archer was a fast bowler in full flight during that season. The team around him could not always support him but he kept taking wickets and leading from the front.

14. Harshal Patel (2021)

Harshal Patel won the award with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2021. He took 32 wickets to win the Purple Cap and took wickets in clusters with consistent dominance on the ball throughout the season. It was a breakout season. He was not widely known before it started. By the end of the IPL, no one could say they didn’t know who Harshal Patel was.

15. Jos Buttler (2022)

Jos Buttler won the award with Rajasthan Royals in 2022. He scored 863 runs, including several centuries, finished with the Orange Cap, and dominated the run chart throughout the season. Buttler was the best batsman in the tournament that year and he wasn’t particularly close. He scored centuries to score half-centuries like most players. He did it time and time again and he did it at the top where he set the tone for everything that followed.

16. Shubman Gill (2023)

Shubman Gill won this award with Gujarat Titans in 2023. He scored 890 runs and finished as the top run-scorer throughout the season and consistently provided big scores for his team. Gill batted with equal measure of patience and power. At the end of the season, he scored more runs than anyone else and his team benefited from every one of them.

Next Read: Man of the Match Awards Winners in IPL History (2008–2025)

17. Sunil Narine (2024)

Sunil Narine won the award for the third time in 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored 488 runs at an aggressive strike rate and took 17 wickets throughout the season, contributing with batting, bowling and fielding. Three Player of the Tournament awards in different eras of the same competition is something that no other player has achieved. Narine kept finding ways to be the best player in the room.

18. Suryakumar Yadav (2025)

Suryakumar Yadav won this award with Mumbai Indians in 2025. He scored 717 runs with excellent consistency and strike rate and became the first MI batsman to score more than 700 runs in a single season. He batted under pressure in a way that only he can. Innovative, aggressive and always looking for the next boundary in a direction that the bowler might not have thought of.