<p>“I’m 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,” Vaas told reporters at the Sinhalese Sports Club.<br /><br />Earlier this month, chief selector Asantha de Mel had revealed that Vaas had a discussion with him after the pacer had made up his mind to quit the longer version. <br /><br />Vaas, however, went on to deny it and after being ignored for the first two Tests against Pakistan, the 35-year-old pacer was recalled to the Sri Lanka squad for the final match starting on Monday.<br /><br />Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who had earlier announced that Vaas would get a farewell game, paid rich tributes to the pacer, only the third Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan to play more than 100 Tests.<br /><br />“Vaasy is a true champion and probably the only Sri Lankan fast bowler who can be called a true legend of the game,” he said. <br /><br />“Whoever replaces Vaasy in the bowling attack they will take years and years to reach the standards he has set -- and maybe they never will,” Sangakkara said.<br /><br />“He has got a great part to play in our one-day set-up until the World Cup in 2011 and maybe beyond it as long as he is fit,” he said.<br /><br />Since making his Test debut against Pakistan at Kandy in the year of 1994, the Mattumagala-born pacer has so far played 110 Tests, claiming 354 wickets at am average of 29.40 with 12 five-wicket hauls. He has also made 3085 Test runs at 24.48, including a century against Bangladesh.<br /><br />In 322 one-dayers so far, Vaas has taken 400 wickets at 27.53, besides scoring 2025 runs. He has also played six Twenty20 Internationals.<br /><br />The country’s most successful bowler after off-spinner Muralitharan, Vaas has a natural ability to swing and seam the ball and his grasp of reverse-swing also made him a lethal bowler.<br /><br />Vaas took the first one-day eight-for against Zimbabwe, which included a hat-trick. He took another hat-trick in Sri Lanka’s 2003 World Cup match against Bangladesh.</p>
<p>“I’m 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,” Vaas told reporters at the Sinhalese Sports Club.<br /><br />Earlier this month, chief selector Asantha de Mel had revealed that Vaas had a discussion with him after the pacer had made up his mind to quit the longer version. <br /><br />Vaas, however, went on to deny it and after being ignored for the first two Tests against Pakistan, the 35-year-old pacer was recalled to the Sri Lanka squad for the final match starting on Monday.<br /><br />Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who had earlier announced that Vaas would get a farewell game, paid rich tributes to the pacer, only the third Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan to play more than 100 Tests.<br /><br />“Vaasy is a true champion and probably the only Sri Lankan fast bowler who can be called a true legend of the game,” he said. <br /><br />“Whoever replaces Vaasy in the bowling attack they will take years and years to reach the standards he has set -- and maybe they never will,” Sangakkara said.<br /><br />“He has got a great part to play in our one-day set-up until the World Cup in 2011 and maybe beyond it as long as he is fit,” he said.<br /><br />Since making his Test debut against Pakistan at Kandy in the year of 1994, the Mattumagala-born pacer has so far played 110 Tests, claiming 354 wickets at am average of 29.40 with 12 five-wicket hauls. He has also made 3085 Test runs at 24.48, including a century against Bangladesh.<br /><br />In 322 one-dayers so far, Vaas has taken 400 wickets at 27.53, besides scoring 2025 runs. He has also played six Twenty20 Internationals.<br /><br />The country’s most successful bowler after off-spinner Muralitharan, Vaas has a natural ability to swing and seam the ball and his grasp of reverse-swing also made him a lethal bowler.<br /><br />Vaas took the first one-day eight-for against Zimbabwe, which included a hat-trick. He took another hat-trick in Sri Lanka’s 2003 World Cup match against Bangladesh.</p>