In the next article in the series of Stats Comparison between the best left arm fast bowlers, we have Zaheer Khan vs Chaminda Vaas and this is the debate where we have the best left arm fast bowlers from India and Sri Lanka to have played cricket. Chaminda Vaas was a true legend in Sri Lankan cricket and he was a special fast bowler who could swing the ball and hey wickets all the time and we have talked about Zaheer Khan as he is the reason why left arm fast bowlers are being seen in India.
Before we get into this article I want to say thank you to all these 3 greats that they gave us a special and a skill that is not seen often in cricket and we were lucky to have seen all 3 at their peak of their powers. So, let’s see the stats of Zaheer Khan vs Chaminda Vaas
Zaheer Khan
Like we talked about him in a previous article that Zaheer Khan was the face of left arm fast bowling in India because before him there was no one that the fans could look upto and say that this is the best left arm fast bowler in the world. Zaheer Khan made the Indian fans proud and he was one of the main reasons India won the 2011 World Cup.
Test Cricket
Like we have talked before that Zaheer Khan has a remarkable test career and had it not been dir injuries then he would have played 100 Test Matches instead of the 92 that he played. In the 92 test matches that he played in he took 311 test wickets at an average of 32.95. He also took 11 Five wicket hauls in his test career. Zaheer Khan was unlucky with injuries throughout his career.
Check here Best Zaheer Khan bowling performances
ODI Cricket
Zaheer Khan played a lot more ODIs because he had to only bowl 10 overs in an innings and that was easier on the body. He played 200 ODIs for India and he took 282 ODI Wickets in his illustrious career and took them at a good average of 29.44. Zaheer Khan also got 1 Five wicket haul in his ODI career. He took 21 Wickets in the 2011 World Cup which helped India win that World Cup.
Check here Best Performances of Zaheer Khan in ODI Cricket
Format | Test Cricket | ODIs |
Matches | 92 | 200 |
Balls Bowled | 18785 | 10097 |
Wickets | 311 | 282 |
5 wickets in an innings | 11 | 1 |
10 Wickets in a match | 1 | 0 |
Best bowling | 7/87 | 5/42 |
Also Read: Chaminda Vaas vs Wasim Akram - Stats Comparison as Fast Bowler
Chaminda Vaas
Now we come to the third of the left arm fast bowlers in our list and this is the best that Sri Lankan cricket has ever seen and one of the best of all time along with Wasim Akram. He had as long of a career as his name is. Vaas was an institution in Sri Lankan cricket and he provided the much needed variety to the bowling attack to that great Sri Lankan team. He was also an important part of the 1996 World Cup winning team.
Test Cricket
Chaminda Vaas like Wasim Akram has scored runs for Sri Lanka in test cricket as he has got 3089 runs in test cricket for Sri Lanka. He has a highest test score of 100*. And as a left arm fast bowler he was lethal as un the 111 test matches he played for Sri Lanka he took 355 test wickets. He got these wickets at an average of 29.58 and he took 12 Five wicket hauls in his test career.
ODI Cricket
Chaminda Vaas was also an all time great in ODI Cricket history. He played 322 ODIs for Sri Lanka and he took 400 ODI Wickets and he is one of the rare few to have got 400 wickets in ODI Cricket. He got all these wickets at an average of 27.53. He also scored 2025 runs as a batter lower down the order.
Check here Best bowling performances of Chaminda Vaas
Format | Test Cricket | ODIs |
Matches | 111 | 322 |
Top score | 100 | 50* |
Balls Bowled | 23438 | 15775 |
Wickets | 355 | 400 |
Bowling average | 29.58 | 27.53 |
5 wickets in an innings | 12 | 4 |
10 Wickets in a match | 2 | 0 |
Best bowling | 7/71 | 8/19 |
Stats Comparison
If we compare the stats of these 2 greats then we can see that Chaminda Vaas clearly has the edge in the batting as he has got more than 5000 runs for Sri Lanka. And aa far as bowling is concerned then Vaas has a slight edge in Test Cricket as he has 40+ more wickets than Zaheer and he has a better average. And in ODIs also Vaas has an edge because he has 100+ more wickets than Zaheer.
Also Read: Wasim Akram vs Zaheer Khan – Stats Comparison as Fast Bowler
