Shri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas has announced his retirement from Test cricket post the 3rd match against Pakistan in Colombo.
Vaas said, “I am officially retiring from Test cricket after the third Test against Pakistan, but will continue playing one-day and Twenty20 matches till the 2011 World Cup.” The bowler’s last Test appearance for Sri Lanka was in February in the wake of horror that was unleashed during the terminated Test series in Pakistan.
Vaas has played a total of 110 Test matches with 354 wickets at 29.40, his Test debut coming against Pakistan in 1994. He is also the second-highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka with 400 one-day wickets and has scored 3085 Test runs at 24.48.
Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lankan skipper said, “Vaas is a true champion and probably the only Sri Lankan fast bowler who can be called a true legend of the game. No matter who replaces Vaasy in the bowling attack they will take years and years to reach the standards he has set - and maybe they never will.”
Vaas was absent in the Sri Lankan Twenty20 squad for Canada, but featured in the Test match in Karachi, however he was dropped after a 31 over wicket-less run.
Vaas will still continue playing ODIs and Twenty20s until the 2011 World Cup.