Chaminda Vaas, where does he rank as a bowler?

[Kwremb]

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.

I was talking about the 90s to which Vaas belongs to. He was very good but not great

 

[SL_Fan]

I was talking about the 90s to which Vaas belongs to. He was very good but not great

I would say he belongs more in the 2000s than in the 90s. Over 70% of his Test cricket was played during the 2000s. Yes no way is he a great but a world class bowler during his time nonetheless.

 

[Saqs]

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!

When we say he won't make it into other top teams during the time he played - it is more a reflection of the completion he had - and so the number of wickets he took himself for Lanka is almost irrelevant.

He would not have made Pak, Windies, Aus, SA. He would have been a legend in India though. He may have had a case for England.

 

[malakian]

I'd have given my left nut to have Vaas playing for England in the 90's, especially in ODI's.

 

[SL_Fan]

When we say he won't make it into other top teams during the time he played - it is more a reflection of the completion he had - and so the number of wickets he took himself for Lanka is almost irrelevant.

He would not have made Pak, Windies, Aus, SA. He would have been a legend in India though. He may have had a case for England.

In ODIs I think he could have made it into pretty much any team. In Tests the only team he probably would not have made it into was Aus because they had McGrath, Gillespie and Lee etc destroying one batting line-up after another. He may have had some trouble getting into SA and Eng but I'm pretty sure he would have got some decent game time for them one way or another. Pak had guys like Sami and Razzaq and a few no names bowling in Tests so that's not much competition. Same with NZ and WI (WI were declining rapidly during the 2000s).

 

[Saqs]

In ODIs I think he could have made it into pretty much any team. In Tests the only team he probably would not have made it into was Aus because they had McGrath, Gillespie and Lee etc destroying one batting line-up after another. He may have had some trouble getting into SA and Eng but I'm pretty sure he would have got some decent game time for them one way or another. Pak had guys like Sami and Razzaq and a few no names bowling in Tests so that's not much competition. Same with NZ and WI (WI were declining rapidly during the 2000s).

I was under the impression that he played mostly during the 90s. My bad.

My opinion on Vaas is basically that he was like a Rana Naved type player. Good with the new ball or when conditions suited. Not very great with the old cherry. And could bat a bit.

 

[SL_Fan]

I was under the impression that he played mostly during the 90s. My bad.

My opinion on Vaas is basically that he was like a Rana Naved type player. Good with the new ball or when conditions suited. Not very great with the old cherry. And could bat a bit.

Far from it. He had plenty of tricks in his bag. He was very accurate, he could swing and seam it both ways, had a deceptive offcutter, a good slower ball and he was also a good exponent of reverse swing.

[utube]dIJHZWJvRGw[/utube]

 

[Mamoon]

I rate him more than that joke Malinga and certainly have way more respect.

 

[SL_Fan]

[utube]skL3N8I-Rdk[/utube]

 

[SL_Fan]

I rate him more than that joke Malinga and certainly have way more respect.

No doubt

 

[Buffet]

I'd have given my left nut to have Vaas playing for England in the 90's, especially in ODI's.

How did you manage to get KP, Trott ...... .long list ? One gun Saffer I can understand but so many of them.... May be you got some help. Wish you a long life even if you happen to miss few organs

 

[malakian]

How did you manage to get KP, Trott ...... .long list ? One gun Saffer I can understand but so many of them.... May be you got some help.

Easy, KP & Trott chose to come here because England is such an awesome country. Who wouldn't want to live & work here?

 

[Buffet]

Easy, KP & Trott chose to come here because England is such an awesome country. Who wouldn't want to live & work here?

Oh so you are in good health, glad to hear

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Got Tendulkar out again.

 

[Ab Fan]

Excellent bowler. Better than Zaheer and Srinath. Probably at same level as Kapil Dev or slightly behind as he still had luxury of Murali unlike Kapil who was one man army.

 

[Abid Z]

An absolutely fabulous yet underrated bowler and all round cricketer. People will one day wake up to his immense contribution to Sri Lanka cricket.

I watched another great left armer, wasim almost from his debut to his retirement and can say there are two distinct phases in his career. Firstly the raw pace, immense threat of a wicket almost every ball and sheer thrill of intimidating batsmen. But the wasim of 2001-2003 when he retired was strictly medium at 79-80mph, still swinging it miles but batsmen were more daring with the cushion of bigger bats, the prevalence of odi cricket and shorter boundaries.

Vaas has to be seen in this context. He was as good as a later wasim. Had everything, swing seam control stamina and ideally suited to being a defensive bowler. Yet never raised his speed more than 79-80mph. Some people say he was so slow that you finished your shot before the ball even arrived.

Nowadays bowlers like this that can hold an end up while a wicket taker at the other end plugs away, are like gold dust. Shame that apart from Murali he didn’t have a regular bowling partner.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Great to be back after so many years! Good fun and then some rehab &#55357;&#56833;<a href="https://twitter.com/RSWorldSeries?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RSWorldSeries</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sllegends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SLlegends</a> <a href="https://t.co/ymiVQH7roR">pic.twitter.com/ymiVQH7roR</a></p>— Chaminda Vaas (@chaminda_vaas) <a href="https://twitter.com/chaminda_vaas/status/1236885888816173056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Hasan123]

Very underrated bowler. Capable of swinging the ball and also a good death bowler. Deserves a lot more credit than he gets.

 

[Ted123]

Haven't seen him bowl but how great was he? Where does he rank as a bowler among greats?

400 ODI wickets and 350 test wickets.

 

[andy0204]

Srilanka's greatest pacer ever.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Against right handers, Chaminda Vass with the new ball was more threatening than Wasim Akram.

That's how good he was.

 

[Ab Fan]

Excellent bowler, particularly in ODIs.

400 ODI wickets is a phenomenal achievement, he was brilliant with the new bowl.

In tests, he was brilliant in Sri Lanka and New Zealand (a place which suits his bowling ). He was not so good in other countries though.

 

[coy0607]

His greatest strength was his longevity. Otherwise he was a good, but not great bowler.
SL's weakness in fast bowling in the 1990's helped him stick around for perhaps longer than he needed to

 

[sweep_shot]

He was a very good bowler in ODI. Nothing more.

He was ordinary in Test.

 

[sshakir411]

Loved his action. Zoysa tried so hard to be like him and despite his height and pace advantage never matched up.

 

[gazza619]

Quality bowler. There was a moment in Vaas’s career where he became very nippy and turned into a bit more than a medium pace swing bowler. I think it was late 1990s or early 2000s.

He always got the respect which he truly deserved.

 

[KP From India]

Good odi bowler, can't count on him to get 4/5 wickets in a big match vs quality batting but will keep tidy.
Strictly average in tests
Avg. excluding Ban, Zim and Wi= 33.34
Total matches= 80
Wickets= 233
Wickets per match=2.9
performed well away only against NZ
Strike rate=70+
Even Ishant after 110 matches would have better record and still we consider Ishant as only support bowler even after huge improvement.

 

[therealAB]

Was a top 10 fast bowler for a long period of time. However apart from McGrath and Pollock there were no ATG fast bowlers operating. In his era I would rank
McGrath
- daylight
Pollock
Shoaib
Gillespie
Bond (would be ranked higher if played more)
Simon Jones (see above)
Asif (see above)
Ntini
Vaas
Freddie

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">19th February - Chaminda Vaas is appointed Sri Lanka's Fast Bowling Coach. <br><br>22nd February - Chaminda Vaas announces his resignation as Sri Lanka's Fast Bowling Coach.<br><br>26th March - Chaminda Vaas agrees to continue as the Fast Bowling Coach for Sri Lanka<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1375420118382051329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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[The Bald Eagle]

Happy birthday to Sri Lankan legend!

Chaminda Vaas, 51 today, still has the best figures in an innings in ODIs