Birthday special: Chaminda Vaas – The left-arm pacer who personified accuracy

On 27 January 1974, the former Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas was born. The left-arm pacer was known for his accuracy with the ball and his ability to work magic with the new ball. He started as a bowler known for his raw pace but with time, he developed a nagging length which would trouble batsmen a lot. He is without a doubt Sri Lanka’s best fast bowler ever. Some might argue that Lasith Malinga should be the one for that tag but Vaas’ illustrious career and his numbers take the cake.

Vaas made his debut for Sri Lanka in 1994 and soon became a household name with his impressive bowling and useful lower-order contributions. In 1995, he helped his country win their first away Test match in Napier against New Zealand. He picked up five wickets in both the innings and also made 30+ scores with the bat. With this performance, he established himself as a regular member of the squad. In the following year, he became Sri Lanka’s leading bowler in the World Cup 1996, which the island nation historically won.

In the years to come, Vaas broke many records and created some for himself. In 2001-02, he took a 14-wicket haul against West Indies in a home Test. Only Imran Khan and Vaas have the record of taking 14 wickets as a pacer in the subcontinent. He started playing a key role in Tests, with his regular knocks down the order. In 111 Tests which he played, he managed 3089 runs with an average of 24.32 with 13 fifties and a century which came in 2007. He picked up 355 wickets, which makes him the third-highest wicket-taker in the format for his country, only behind Rangana Herath and Muttiah Muralitharan.

With Sri Lankan legend Chaminda Vaas celebrating his birthday today, here’s a bit of gold from the archives! pic.twitter.com/q7mX286sTb

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 27, 2021

In ODIs, he was equally effective often giving his team good starts with the ball. In 322 matches, Vaas picked up 400 wickets at an average of 27.53. He is one of the four bowlers who have taken 400 or more wickets in the format. He also holds the record of the best ODI bowling figures ever, having picked up 8 for 19 against Zimbabwe in 2005. He is the only bowler to have taken eight wickets in an ODI match. He is also the only bowler to take wickets on the first three balls of an ODI match, which he did during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003. He was the highest wicket-taker in that tournament as well.

Chaminda Vaas is one of the most respected cricketers, just not for his performances but also the way in which he carried himself. After his international retirement, he played county cricket till 2012, producing match-winning performances regularly for his team. He has since been involved in coaching roles in the Sri Lankan cricket set-up.

As he turns 47 on January 27, we wish the champion a very happy birthday and hope his experience can be used to revive Sri Lankan cricket from the bad phase which they have been going through since most of their legendary players hang their boots.