Chaminda Vaas is easily the most penetrative and successful new-ball bowler Sri Lanka have had, and he has served his country well. He swings and seams the ball with skill, his trademark delivery being the late indipper. However, he also bowls a carefully disguised offcutter, and has recently added reverse-swing to his armoury, a skill that has made him a consistent wicket-taker even on bland subcontinental pitches. He outbowled New Zealand's seamers in green conditions at Napier to give Sri Lanka their first win in an overseas Test, in 1994-95. In 2001-02 he made a quantum leap, taking 26 wickets in the 3-0 rout of West Indies, becoming only the second fast bowler, after Imran Khan, to take 14 wickets in a match in the subcontinent. He then went on to take the first-ever ODI eight-for, against Zimbabwe, which included a hat-trick. He also claimed a hat-trick with the first three balls of the match against Bangladesh in the 2003 World Cup. Vaas reached the 300-wicket milestone in Tests against India in 2005-06, having passed the mark in ODIs on the tour to Zimbabwe. In 2004 he also gained overdue recognition for his talent when he was selected for the World XI at the inaugural ICC Awards. Vaas is easily Sri Lanka's second-most successful bowler - after Muttiah Muralitharan - in both forms of the game. His approach to his batting is equally sincere and in recent years he has gradually gained recognition as a useful allrounder. He waited 97 Tests for his maiden century, against Bangladesh, and soon after, became the third Sri Lankan to play 100 Tests or more.

In August 2008, Vaas crossed yet another milestone when he had Yuvraj Singh caught for a duck in Colombo to get his 400th ODI wicket and become the fourth bowler to reach the landmark.

In July 2009, Vaas announced his retirement from Tests but said he will continue to play one-dayers and Twenty20s till the 2011 World Cup.