Chaminda Vaas- The cunning paceman

Aparna Ravichandran

Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Udhantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas-for a cricketer with such a complicated name, his bowling philosophy in comparison was relatively simple; keep perfect control over the line and length and the rest will take care of itself. It is no wonder that the left-arm pacer went on to become the best fast bowler Sri Lanka has ever produced, with 355 Test wickets and 400 ODI scalps to his credit. He is the second most successful Sri Lankan bowler of all time behind the illustrious Muttiah Muralitharan.

Making his debut against New Zealand at Napier aged just 20, Vaas gave his country their first overseas victory in Test matches. He is best known for his incisive late in-dipper and well disguised off-cutters. His showing of eight wickets against Zimbabwe back in 2001 still remains the only eight wicket haul in one-day international history. Maturing over time, he was the most successful bowler in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. His collection of 23 wickets included a superb 6 wickets for 25 runs against a hapless Bangladesh, a match in which he also took a hat-trick with the first three deliveries of the Bangladesh innings. He is a member of an elite league of just three bowlers to have taken two hat-tricks in ODI matches.

Not one whose batting can be taken lightly, Vaas earned the rightful tag of all-rounder in the latter stages of his career. While his maiden Test century took time in coming, appearing only in his 97th Test match, there are still only 11 Test bowlers who have taken more than 200 wickets and have scored more runs than him. His strong arm from the deep also made him an asset even in the fielding department.

Although his bowling turned several matches around for the Deccan Chargers IPL team in 2010, he was not considered during this year's auction in Bangalore. Retired from tests in 2009, Vaas has time and again announced his availability for the 2011 World Cup, but to no avail. Chairman of Selectors, Aravinda De Silva, recently announced that it had been tough to axe names of the magnitude of Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya and yet it had to be done keeping the best interests of the side in mind. In reaction, Vaas wished his countrymen the best for the tournament and is now contemplating international retirement from cricket.