Agence France Presse

London, June 16:

Adam Gilchrist has been voted the most destructive and intimidating batsman in international one-day cricket. A poll of leading bowlers — carried out by The Wisden Cricketer magazine —identified the Australian as the man they fear most, ahead of the likes of Brian Lara, Shahid Afridi, Virender Sehwag and Englands Andrew Flintoff. South African bowler Makhaya Ntini described the left-hander as, “just unbelievable sometimes,” while New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori admitted: “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. Azhar Mahmood is less evasive: Gilchrist — I dont want to bowl to him, man.” Gilchrist plaid down the accolades with characteristic modesty. “I guess it is an honour in a strange kind of way,” he said. “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.” In 209 ODIs Gilchrist has scored 6,969 runs at a strike rate of 95, with a colossal 840 boundaries and another 94 which have cleared the ropes, and sometimes the stands. Top ten destroyers: 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Brian Lara, 3 Shahid Afridi, 4 Virender Sehwag, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Sachin Tendulkar, 7 Chris Cairns, 8 Matthew Hayden, 9 Abdul Razzaq, 10 Ricky Ponting.