On This Day | Once a part of Sri Lanka’s bowling core, Chaminda Vaas was born in 1974. The 2000s was the era of domination by world-class fast bowlers who wreaked havoc with their pace and precision. One such bowler who was a part of that elite club was the veteran Sri Lankan speedster Chaminda Vaas. Vaas was not as fast as someone like Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee but his skill to swing the ball both ways with precision made him a threatening fast bowler.
Chaminda Vaas stepped into international cricket in 1994 when he made his ODI debut against India at Rajkot. The same year an opportunity to play Test cricket knocked on his doors. Soon he made his Test debut against Pakistan and never looked back from there.
An all-time great
Chaminda Vaas has a glorious legacy and his contribution to Sri Lankan cricket has been immense. He is arguably the greatest fast bowler Sri Lanka has ever produced. The stats reflect a similar story. He played 111 Test matches for Sri Lanka where he picked up 355 wickets at an average of 29.58. In a 15-year-long Test career, Vaas registered 12 five-wicket hauls along with a couple of ten-wicket hauls. These stats suggest how valuable he was for Sri Lanka in Test cricket.
Chaminda Vaas’ ODI career was even more glorious as he has 400 wickets to his name in 322 One-Day internationals at an average of 27.53 and he is the only Sri Lankan fast-bowler to achieve this milestone. He was an important figure in Sri Lanka’s 2007 World Cup campaign when the 1996 World Cup champions reached the final.
Vaas remained a pivotal player for Sri Lanka and along with stalwarts like Sangakkara, Jayawardene, and Muralitharan, he made the island nation the threatening side that they were. Chaminda Vaas’ international career would serve as an inspiration for the budding cricketers in Sri Lanka who want to become fast bowlers. His impact on Sri Lankan cricket is more than just his incredible stats and die-hard cricket fans in the island nation will always revere him for his contribution.