Chaminda Vaas will retire from Test cricket after Sri Lanka's final match of the series against Pakistan in Colombo.
Sri Lanka skipper Sangakkara pays tribute to veteran seamer
Chaminda Vaas has announced that he will retire from Test cricket after Sri Lanka's final match of the series against Pakistan.
The left-arm seamer has been called up for the third Test in Colombo having refuted reports just two weeks ago that he had already quit the longer form of the game.
Vaas is Sri Lanka's second-highest wicket taker with 354 in 110 Test matches having made his debut against Pakistan in 1994.
The 35-year-old, who was not part of the squad for the recent ICC World Twenty20 in England, will continue to be available for selection for his country in the shorter form of the game.
Official
"I am officially retiring from Test cricket after the third Test against Pakistan, but will continue playing one-day and Twenty20 matches until the 2011 World Cup," he said.
Vaas will end his Test career at the same ground where he claimed his best innings figures - 7-71 against the West Indies.
He also added useful runs down the order. He averages 24.48 with his only Test century, an unbeaten 100, coming against Bangladesh two years ago.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara paid tribute to the veteran bowler, admitting it would be difficult to replace arguably the country's finest ever new-ball bowler.
"Vaas is a true champion and probably the only Sri Lankan fast bowler who can be called a true legend of the game," he said.
"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.
"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."
