Chaminda Vaas, where does he rank as a bowler?

[azfar wali]

I haven't seem bowl much but looking at his stats they seemed impressive with 400 wickets in odis and over 300 in test. So my question is to those who have seen him bowl, where does rank in the all time bowler list ? Was he as good as Wasim, Waqar, Mcgrath or he ranks lower down with guys like Jason Gillespie and Umer gul types of bowlers(who are good but not great)

 

[Zaz]

I haven't seem bowl much but looking at his stats they seemed impressive with 400 wickets in odis and over 300 in test. So my question is to those who have seen him bowl, where does rank in the all time bowler list ? Was he as good as Wasim, Waqar, Mcgrath or he ranks lower down with guys like Jason Gillespie and Umer gul types of bowlers(who are good but not great)

Hes in the very good category

Hes nowhere close to the mcgraths, wasims of this world

 

[BD-fan]

He is up there. He thinks and bowls. Age has caught up to him yet he keeps going. Vassy is class. #1 SL pacer. Top ten in his time. Handy with the bat as well. It is not easy to get dust bowl pitches to bowl at every single match and continue as long as he continued. Look at Malinga, Fernando etc. No one can take his place even now because of the fitness level demanded in such SLan pitches.

Certainly not a Waqar, Wasim, McGrath league. But did produce more than Bond, Donald, Ntini, Lee, Shoaib. 300 test wickets are not a matter of joke for any fast/medium paced bowler.

 

[Robert]

Not the best of strike rates. Mediocre away from home, especially Australia, England and SA. But 300 test wickets is not to be sneezed at.

Capable late order batter with 13 test fifties.

 

[Splinter]

Vaas would have his own catagory in between good bowlers and legends.

 

[desi_boy]

I think Chaminda Vaas and Shaun Pollock belong to the same category, I admit Shaun might have been slightly better but Chaminda's stats speak for themselves especially when considering he lived under Muralitharan's shadow!

 

[D]

Vaas has to be the best fast bowler from Sri Lanka.

Overall, he's in the same league as Darren Gough.

Not an Akram, Waqar or Donald.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

I don't think he was as good as Pollock, Donald, Akhtar, Lee, Ntini etc as some on this thread has suggested.

Over the past 10/15 years there has been Wasim/Waqar/Ambrose/Walsh and McGrath then we have the players listed above and then I think Vaas comes into the third category alongside bowlers like Gough, Caddick, Gilliespie, Hoggard, Streak.

 

[waqar akram]

best non pakistani fast bowler from asia !

 

[Random Aussie]

I don't think he was as good as Pollock, Donald, Akhtar, Lee, Ntini etc as some on this thread has suggested.

Over the past 10/15 years there has been Wasim/Waqar/Ambrose/Walsh and McGrath then we have the players listed above and then I think Vaas comes into the third category alongside bowlers like Gough, Caddick, Gilliespie, Hoggard, Streak.

OMG. Gillespie>>>>Lee, Akhtar or Ntini man. Withdraw your post.

 

[zimran72]

I don't think he was as good as Pollock, Donald, Akhtar, Lee, Ntini etc as some on this thread has suggested.

Over the past 10/15 years there has been Wasim/Waqar/Ambrose/Walsh and McGrath then we have the players listed above and then I think Vaas comes into the third category alongside bowlers like Gough, Caddick, Gilliespie, Hoggard, Streak.

I'd disagree with you. First of all Lee was not as good as Gough or Gillespie and maybe even Hoggard.

Vaas would go in the second category alongside Ntini, Gough, and Gillespie.

 

[azfar wali]

best non pakistani fast bowler from asia !

Thats not saying much , India and Bangladesh haven't even produced one decent fast bowler

 

[biggie]

Andhon mein Kana raja. to be precise

 

[Poison]

Decent off spinner.

 

[Robert]

best non pakistani fast bowler from asia !

Vaas was not as good as Kapil Dev, or Srinath even.

 

[BD-fan]

...

Overall, he's in the same league as Darren Gough.

...

Hmmm!!! Let me see,
Test:

Vass has 355 test wickets with a SR of 66. He is 13th in the all time wicket takers list. Gough has 229 test wickets with a SR of 51.6. 43rd??? in the that list.

Gouch played all but 6 matches outside the subcontinent. In other words 7% of his matches were in Subcontinent. Vass on the other hand played 66% of his test matches in the subcontinent.

Before we argue, we must understand for seamers, it is much more difficult to bowl in the subcontinent pitches than other places. That is why the Ws, Imran and Kapil were better than other bowlers around the world.

I am not going to talk about ODIs because there is nothing to talk about. Vass is clearly superior to Gouch from all aspect in this format.

 

[waqar akram]

Vaas was not as good as Kapil Dev, or Srinath even.

i think he's at par with kapil but way way better than srinath. statistically speaking.
talent wise he was still better than srinath

 

[kkmix]

He was very good at one point, and he shouldve left at that time, but he just wanted to play just like jayasuriya...and he was garbage towards the end of his career.

 

[kkmix]

Hmmm!!! Let me see,
Test:

Vass has 355 test wickets with a SR of 66. He is 13th in the all time wicket takers list. Gough has 229 test wickets with a SR of 51.6. 43rd??? in the that list.

Gouch played all but 6 matches outside the subcontinent. In other words 7% of his matches were in Subcontinent. Vass on the other hand played 66% of his test matches in the subcontinent.

Before we argue, we must understand for seamers, it is much more difficult to bowl in the subcontinent pitches than other places. That is why the Ws, Imran and Kapil were better than other bowlers around the world.

I am not going to talk about ODIs because there is nothing to talk about. Vass is clearly superior to Gouch from all aspect in this format.

agreed.

 

[Atif]

best non pakistani fast bowler from asia !

Debatable, probably srinath was in same league as him or better

 

[Anfield]

How Do you rate Chaminda Vaas?

He's hardly mentioned anywhere. I know he's bowling stats are not great but not that bad either. He is often completely ignored by people saying Sri Lanka was a one-man army, Murali basically but I think he played his part too. IMO Vaas>Zaheer Khan, U gul or Jimmy Andersen for that matter.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Highly, especially in limited overs Cricket where batsmen couldn't afford to play out his 10 overs. Relied on his immaculate line-length and moved the ball just enough to get the lbw or edge. In tests, he wasn't as a big a threat as other great fast bowlers of his time as he didn't have the extra pace, height and swing which are very essential in the longer format.

But in ODI cricket there was no escape for batsmen. Vaas's 10 overs would usually seal the deal for Sri Lanka. I would even say that Vaas was a much bigger threat than Murali in ODIs while playing Sri Lanka, especially for the sub continental sides like India, Pakistan hence i am not surprised that a Pakistani is starting this thread. You must remember well how tough it was surviving his initial 7 overs.

 

[bmwduran]

He operated within his limitations. In an era dominated by two Ws, he was fresh breeze as far as left hand pace bowling was concerned. Later the lefty clones were produced by India in plenty.

 

[kungfu90]

Beautiful bowling action.

 

[Madplayer]

Vaas is one of best fast bowlers produced by subcontinent. I rate him highly as most of the cricket players and experts do.. and he is light years ahead of zaheer khan

 

[James]

Very highly.

Vaas is a bowler that has been underrated in his retirement. SL struggle to win Tests nowadays not only because Murali has moved on; they also lack a consistent seam bowler that will apply pressure from the first over onwards and usually nip out at least one of the opening batters. I'll say it again and again: cricket is a game of nuances. And the aforementioned outlet can make a big difference to the direction of Test matches.

 

[style_guru]

Highly in ODI's. Good enough in Tests.

A bowler with 400 ODI wickets, an economy of around 4.2 (playing mostly in sub-continent), with an average of around 27.5, should be considered very good.

In Tests, 355 wickets from 111 matches at an average of below 30 is damn good, considering he was not an express bowler with limited abilities.

People who have seen him play in the 90's and early 2000's must clearly remember how accurate he was with his line and length. With Vaas opening the bowling, even the best of batsmen found it difficult to get him away.

It's a shame he was dropped by the SLCB in the manner he was.

A great bowler and a handy bat down the order. A great servant of the SL cricket.

 

[Robert]

Not one of the greats, but a very good bowler like Kapil Dev.

 

[SL_Fan]

Vass is very under-rated. He worked with the kiwi quicks the last tour. Clearly that paid off. SLC retards don't know a good thing even if it hit them on the face. He would be a great bowling coach.

 

[Justcrazy]

He was okay as far as SL standards , not someone who can rip through batting line ups.

He was consistent in line and length , that was his strength.

 

[Jeetu111]

Dont rate him in tests .

 

[Gunther]

Vass is very under-rated. He worked with the kiwi quicks the last tour. Clearly that paid off. SLC retards don't know a good thing even if it hit them on the face. He would be a great bowling coach.

I understand Sanga and Jaya do not get along that well with Vaas ?

 

[SL_Fan]

I understand Sanga and Jaya do not get along that well with Vaas ?

Yeah there are issues between MJ and Vass I think. SL cricket is the one losing out. We really need a good fast bowling coach. The one we have atm is clearly hopeless. Done nothing at all as far as I can see. Only gone backwards.

 

[Gunther]

You remember that other left arm seamer from his time, Nuwan Zoysa. He had a beastly physique but did not have the right fitness

 

[leatherface58]

Excellent Odi bowler. Always used to get openers out. In tests, he was the workhorse. Extremely dependable and
Capable of bowling long spells without breaking down. He is criminally underrated on PP simply because of lack of pace. He was probably not a legend but a quality pacer nonetheless.

 

[SL_Fan]

You remember that other left arm seamer from his time, Nuwan Zoysa. He had a beastly physique but did not have the right fitness

Yeah he was very promising early on but cut down by injuries and inconsistency. Similar to the no-ball queen Fernando.

 

[ecstatic_freak]

He was a good bowler. I would always remember him(and Shaun pollock) for their first over/first ball LBWs

 

[SL_Fan]

Excellent Odi bowler. Always used to get openers out. In tests, he was the workhorse. Extremely dependable and
Capable of bowling long spells without breaking down. He is criminally underrated on PP simply because of lack of pace. He was probably not a legend but a quality pacer nonetheless.

He had quite a few "opening" bunnies especially in ODIs. Gayle, Fleming, Gibbs come to mind.

 

[young guns]

Yeah he was very promising early on but cut down by injuries and inconsistency. Similar to the no-ball queen Fernando.

lil off topic but how come fernando keep making comebacks????in good book of selectors??

 

[Madplayer]

What do you mean by troll and calling someone fool is very nice??

He was an ok bowler, good only against Minnows.

Untrue.. He troubled every team.. I have lots of memories of him getting a wicket in his first over.. He is better than any other srilankan pacer that comes to my mind.

 

[SL_Fan]

lil off topic but how come fernando keep making comebacks????in good book of selectors??

No idea bro. Logic and common sense are not things that come naturally to SLC. He is quite decent on fast bouncy tracks though I'll give him that. Otherwise just cannon fodder.

 

[malakian]

A prime Vaas was an excellent bowler, no doubt about it.

 

[Pakistaniboy]

A great bowler,

Maybe not a legendary one, but a very good one.

I rate him highly.

 

[lilFlip]

People usually have bar very high when look at SC fast bowlers. It is really tough to be fast bowler from sub-continent. The thing is and are simply too good, absolute beasts. Zaheer/Vaas/Anderson etc aren't 'bad' players, it is pitches.

 

[eradicator]

Better than Zaheer khan .

And I remember he has the best figures for a bowler in the Odis . 8 wickets against Zimbabwe . But its also true that he is hardly mentioned anywhere these days .

Legend in the Odis for me .

 

[mmkextreme_1]

He is like the Shaun Pollack of SA, never really gets the mention they deserve!

 

[Justcrazy]

He is like the Shaun Pollack of SA, never really gets the mention they deserve!

No disrespect to Vaas , but Pollock is miles better than him.

 

[leatherface58]

Pollock was a fauxllrounder. A step below being genuine bat. But a legend with the ball. I still remember his awesome bowling action.

Vaas was a quality bowler. But nowhere near Polly. Pollock > Pidge in terms of utility.

 

[Executioner]

The guy was born at the wrong time. This is the era in which chaminda vaas would have been lethal. Limited over cricket is meant for him. He would have been more effective than Malinga IMO

 

[Anfield]

The guy was born at the wrong time. This is the era in which chaminda vaas would have been lethal. Limited over cricket is meant for him. He would have been more effective than Malinga IMO

Not sure about wrong era. He played most of cricket in late 90s and 2000s. ODIs were very popular then, even more than they are now.

 

[Anfield]

I am glad it's unanimous that he is rated as a good bowler/above average bowler. And not to forget he was more than a handy bat too.

 

[mmkextreme_1]

No disrespect to Vaas , but Pollock is miles better than him.

No I didn't mean it in that sense, no doubt Pollock was better then Vaas. What I'm trying to say is that, I feel that people don't give credit to Pollock as much as he deserves, usually is forgotten when great SA players are brought up.

I was initially trying to portray that Vaas is to the SL as Pollock is to SA, or even on the world stage, usually forgotten in world xi and stuff like that.

Hope that clears stuff up a bit

 

[umerz]

As good as Srinath

 

[GentleMan]

very intelligent bowler who was difficult to get away..he had good pace in his early days, and later made up for lack of pace with intelligent bowling..he was difficult to get away, with sanga standing close to the stumps.. when Irfan Pathan came, everyone wanted him to be our wasim akram, i wanted him to be our chaminda vaas

 

[-MB-]

pretty highly

 

[Gunther]

Wealthy man's Kulasekara

 

[SL_Fan]

very intelligent bowler who was difficult to get away..he had good pace in his early days, and later made up for lack of pace with intelligent bowling..he was difficult to get away, with sanga standing close to the stumps.. when Irfan Pathan came, everyone wanted him to be our wasim akram, i wanted him to be our chaminda vaas

Lmao you can not be serious )

 

[SL_Fan]

Wealthy man's Kulasekara

Kula can only dream

 

[Buffet]

Very good bowler and underrated one. He used to get quick wickets for SL in ODI almost all the time.

 

[Madplayer]

I still remember that odi when australians required 5 runs in the final over to win.. The great michael beaven and hard hitting andrew symonds were at the crease. Vaas was given the ball and i think he was able to contain them.. Especially symonds looked clueless in that final over

 

[ahmed778]

Much better than Gul.
As good as Pollock.
A bit less better than Glenn Mcgrath.
Much less than Wasim.

 

[Buffet]

As good as Pollock.
A bit less better than Glenn Mcgrath.
.

Two ridiculous statements. Pollock and Mcgrath were ATGs. Vaas was good bowler but he was not anywhere close to these two folks.

 

[ahmed778]

Two ridiculous statements. Pollock and Mcgrath were ATGs. Vaas was good bowler but he was not anywhere close to these two folks.

Mcgrath was much better than Pollock.
I didn't say that Vaas was as good as Mcgrath but he was as good as Pollock.
I think Some one is forgetting the fact that as a seamer Vaas played most of his matches on Flat Tracks in SA while Pollock played them on the seaming heavens of SA.

 

[Khaseer]

Much better than Gul.
As good as Pollock.
A bit less better than Glenn Mcgrath.
Much less than Wasim.

no way man. Definitely better than Gul, but nowhere near the other 3.

 

[PakPrince]

The guy was born at the wrong time. This is the era in which chaminda vaas would have been lethal. Limited over cricket is meant for him. He would have been more effective than Malinga IMO

what he hell?
wrong era?

he played cricket in the era SL won the WC

 

[Sandeep]

Vaas was vastly underrated! He was okish-good against top oppositions but was more lethal than anyone against minnows! I remember the innings where he bundled out Canada for 36... Averages don't tell the whole story.. We should also remember that he played alongside Murali and his role was curtailed to tie up the batsmen from one end, so that Murali can destroy from the other (Sri Lankan dustbowls too didn't help)... A certain legend for Lanka for sure!

 

[Buffet]

I think Some one is forgetting the fact that as a seamer Vaas played most of his matches on Flat Tracks in SA while Pollock played them on the seaming heavens of SA.

Pollock career average 23.11
Pollock average in Asia 23.18


Vaas career average 29.58
Vaas average in SA 47.45

Btw, Pollock was right up there with the best and possibly better than lot of big names. He is very underrated by many at PP.

Vaas was very good bowler but please don't compare him with bowler like Pollock.

 

[ahmed778]

Pollock career average 23.11
Pollock average in Asia 23.18


Vaas career average 29.58
Vaas average in SA 47.45

Btw, Pollock was right up there with the best and possibly better than lot of big names. He is very underrated by many at PP.

Vaas was very good bowler but please don't compare him with bowler like Pollock.

5 Test Matches out of 111 are not enough to judge a bowler.
And if you see my post i clearly did not say that Vaas very good or even good in SA.

 

[Buffet]

5 Test Matches out of 111 are not enough to judge a bowler.
.

True but 17 matches by Pollock in Asia is decent sample size to judge him on flat tracks. His average in Asia was same as his whole career average.

 

[ahmed778]

True but 17 matches by Pollock in Asia is decent sample size to judge him on flat tracks. His average in Asia was same as his whole career average.

Never said Pollock was not a good bowler.
I said the Pollock and Vaas are equally good IMO.
This was from just watching both of them play not by using stats.
Statistically Pollock is much better but i watched both of them play at their best and i rate both of them equally.
I am entitled to my opinion and you are to yours nothing wrong in that.

 

[Buffet]

I said the Pollock and Vaas are equally good IMO.

I am entitled to my opinion and you are to yours nothing wrong in that.

Fair enough.

I don't use stats to judge players if I have watched them. I was only using it to show that Pollock was good on all kind of tracks. I have watched both of them on all surfaces and I don't think Vaas was in same class as Pollock. As you said different opinions.

 

[Saqs]

Lol at being as good as Wasim or Waqar.

He was good for Sri Lanka.

But he would not have made any other of the top teams. That's the simple fact of it.

 

[akhan44]

Lol at being as good as Wasim or Waqar.

He was good for Sri Lanka.

But he would not have made any other of the top teams. That's the simple fact of it.

True.

He was only good against minnows, used to bully the likes of Canada,Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

 

[Bhaijaan]

^


I have seen Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid struggling a lot more against Vaas than against Akhtar, Waqar, Wsim to be honest. But that's in ODIs.

 

[young guns]

^add ganguly too,,,i still remember he got out on first ball of the match by Vass and after that ganguly was looking at umpires hoping that they might declare it as a trial ball..)

 

[SL_Fan]

Lol at being as good as Wasim or Waqar.

He was good for Sri Lanka.

But he would not have made any other of the top teams. That's the simple fact of it.

Really?

Among the top 5 wicket takers in ODIs (only the fourth bowler in International cricket to have taken 400 ODI wickets)
Among the top 20 wicket takers in Tests
Selected for the World Test and ODI XI in 2004 and World Test XI in 2005
Reached number 3 in Test bowler rankings in 2005
Reached number 1 in ODI bowler rankings in 2004
Represented Asia XI
Only 11 bowlers in Test history with 200 wickets have scored more runs than Vaas

And he would not have made it into any other top teams during the time he played? Seriously? Fail whale!

 

[Kwremb]

Really?

Among the top 5 wicket takers in ODIs (only the fourth bowler in International cricket to have taken 400 ODI wickets)
Among the top 20 wicket takers in Tests
Selected for the World Test and ODI XI in 2004 and World Test XI in 2005
Reached number 3 in Test bowler rankings in 2005
Reached number 1 in ODI bowler rankings in 2004
Represented Asia XI
Only 11 bowlers in Test history with 200 wickets have scored more runs than Vaas

And he would not have made it into any other top teams during the time he played? Seriously? Fail whale!

Useless stats, he might have had a case in ODIs at a stretch but certainly not in Tests. Even India had a better pacer in Srinath- the only Test team he could have made his way in.

 

[Bhaijaan]

^add ganguly too,,,i still remember he got out on first ball of the match by Vass and after that ganguly was looking at umpires hoping that they might declare it as a trial ball..)

Yes but he usually terrorized the right handers more with his in-swing.

 

[SL_Fan]

Useless stats, he might have had a case in ODIs at a stretch but certainly not in Tests. Even India had a better pacer in Srinath- the only Test team he could have made his way in.

He could have easily made it into many top teams in ODIs so let's leave that one to the side. He had some very good years in Tests as well - 1995, 2001 and 2003-05. He would have made it into a few top teams during those years. He was even selected for the World Test XI in 2004 and 2005 (also reached number 3 in Test bowler rankings during that time) so to say he would not have made it into any other top Test side during those years is an absolute joke.

 

[SL_Fan]

He fell away during the last few years of his career though.