Confession time for sleepless bowlers …

World's leading bowlers have voted Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar among the top 10 batsmen who are the most destructive and intimidati...

World’s leading bowlers have voted Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar among the top 10 batsmen who are the most destructive and intimidating in one-day cricket. A poll of 20 international bowlers including Harbhajan Singh, Brett Lee, Muttiah Muralitharan — carried out by the Wisden Cricketer magazine — saw Australian opener Adam Gilchrist in the top spot with Sehwag fourth and Tendulkar sixth.

Other leading batsmen to feature in the list include Brian Lara (2nd), Shahid Afridi (3rd) and Andrew Flintoff (5th).

Showering praise on Gilchrist, South African bowler Makhaya Ntini said “he is just unbelievable at times” while Darren Gough rated the Australian as “one of the best one-day openers”.

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New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori said “I would never say any batsman is frightening, but there are some that you are less interested in bowling to than others – that would be Gilchrist.”

“Gilchrist – I don’t want to bowl to him, man” opined Pakistan seamer Azhar Mahmood.

I guess it is an honour in a strange kind of way. But it is not something I place a lot of emphasis on. When I bat I am trying to perform a job for the team. It is not a personal battle against individual bowlers
— Adam Gilchrist

Responding to the rich tributes from the best in the business, Gilchrist played down the accolades.

In 209 ODIs Gilchrist has scored 6,969 runs at a strike rate of 95.

—PTI

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THE HIT LIST
• Adam Gilchrist
• Brian Lara
• Shahid Afridi
• Virender Sehwag
• Andrew Flintoff
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Chris Cairns
• Matthew Hayden
• Abdul Razzaq
• Ricky Ponting

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the designation gives law enforcement “enhanced powers to combat a group that has instilled fear through violence and intimidation”.

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