Chaminda Vaas was never purely about raw pace or theatrical intimidation. He was about craft. A left-arm seamer with immaculate control, subtle movement and relentless accuracy, Vaas could make a new ball swing, seam or move sharply inward into a batsman before settling into the kind of pressure that eventually broke them.

Vaas took 355 wickets in 111 Tests and 400 in 322 ODIs, becoming Sri Lanka’s most prolific fast bowler in both formats. He could bat too, scoring more than 3,000 Test runs – which includes a century. But his defining quality was simple: he made precision feel dangerous, and that came to the fore at the 2003 World Cup, where he emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets.

Now 52, and sporting a striking silver mane, Vaas remains closely involved with the game as a coach and mentor. He was recently in Hyderabad for a mentorship stint with the Palamuru Strikers in TG20. In an interview with The Hindu, he talks about the evolution of fast bowling, the demands of modern cricket, his coaching experiences around the world, and memories of Sri Lanka’s iconic 1996 World Cup triumph. Excerpts:

You have worked across the world with various franchises as a mentor and coach. How has that experience been?

With subcontinent players, their maturity takes some time to develop, and their game understanding can be a bit limited early on. But once they mature, they learn quickly. I always tell youngsters that discipline and fitness are the two things you cannot compromise on in this sport. If you’re committed to becoming a cricketer, you have to sacrifice a lot — but if you commit to yourself, I’m sure you can succeed. The way youngsters in India have stepped up and delivered for Indian cricket has been amazing.

You played over 100 Tests and 300 ODIs. Those are remarkable numbers for a fast bowler, given how brutal the game is on the body. With today’s focus on nutrition and fitness science, players still seem to break down more often. Is there anything about modern training or diet that makes you think, “We never needed that to play this much cricket”?

I’m not going to argue with the science. A lot of new methods and logic have come up. But one thing I do believe is that the amount of cricket today’s youngsters play can sometimes be too much. As I said earlier, fitness is the most important thing. If you’re physically strong enough to support your mindset, that matters most. You need to look after yourself, time things right, and stay focused, especially fast bowlers. If you want to play longer and perform well, fitness comes first, along with proper rehab and the right diet.

You were known for your late in-swingers, especially to right-handed batters. What are your thoughts on swing bowling in the current era?

After watching the last edition of the IPL, most bowlers don’t swing the ball much anymore. The game has become a batsman’s paradise. But I still believe bowlers who can swing the ball and hit the right areas can take wickets. The number of balls going for boundaries is higher than bowlers might expect, but I’m confident that bowlers who focus on swing can still take plenty of wickets.

Left-arm fast bowlers seem to carry a certain aura that right-arm bowlers don’t quite have…

Left-armers are unique; they are a special breed. When they start bowling and try to perform, they always focus and give their best. I’m not saying right-armers don’t, but left-armers bring something special, and they tend to do things the right way.

The game has become batsman-dominated, thanks in part to T20 cricket. If you were coaching an up-and-coming 18-year-old left-arm pace bowler today, would you tell him to focus purely on swing, or on developing variations? What’s the right balance?

As a bowler, you have to keep it simple. My philosophy as a coach – for bowlers or batters – is not to complicate the game. If you overcomplicate things, they won’t go your way; if you keep things simple, the game itself is simple. Especially in fast bowling, I always say: do the right things. The batter will come after you, but remember, you have six balls to his one chance. If you bowl good areas and good lines consistently, you’ll get your wickets and keep the batter under pressure.

You spoke about your relationship with Muralitharan. When you trained together, how many times did you face him, and did you ever figure him out by the end of your career?

It was always very difficult for me to read him. He’d bowl the off-spinner or the doosra, and I never quite got the better of him. Nor he of me! But yeah, he was very hard to face. I could see why he became such an important bowler. Every time he practised, he’d bowl right until the end of the session. That’s the kind of dedication and potential that made him the number one bowler in the world.

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the 1996 World Cup win. Did the team have a group chat to reminisce, or do friends and family bring it up with you on the anniversary?

We celebrated in Malaysia this year. One of the Sri Lankan community groups organised it there. We went as a team and had a really good time. Even though Sri Lanka is a small country, a group of us — three or four guys at least — meet up regularly and share memories. We had a great time in Malaysia, even played a game together.

It’s been 30 years, and you’ve spoken about that campaign a lot. But is there one behind-the-scenes story that not many people know?

Nothing specific comes to mind, but if I have to mention something, then I will say that we had a tough time in 1996. After touring Australia, we had a terrible tournament there, and then there was the Motera incident and a few other setbacks. We went into the 1996 World Cup as underdogs, but we played as one family. I remember our captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, telling us that it was a very important tournament. He told us not to show off, but to play well from game one. He always encouraged the youngsters, and that’s how we came together as a team and won the World Cup.

You’ve had a 30-year career across various franchises, and interest in the sport has only grown. Tell us about dressing-room life, something fans never really get to see or understand, especially with the national team.

It depends on the format. A Test match is totally different from a one-day game. In Tests, you get up every morning and come back to the dressing room, whether things are going well as a team or not, you have to face it together. There are ups and downs, but as a player, you deal with all of that in the dressing room.

In one-day cricket, it’s similar, we always support and encourage each other and try to give our best, whether we’re representing our country, playing county cricket in England, or playing franchise cricket. You need a good rapport with your teammates wherever you play.

On a lighter note, during your time with the Sri Lankan national team as a player or coach, who was the most fun or chaotic player to have around?

There are a few, like Akila Dananjaya and Lasith Malinga. They’re all so interesting, always asking questions. Even before going to bed, they ask about how to face a particular ball. I loved working with them, and I have a lot of experience with that group. It’s great to see them doing so well now.

You played in the Indian Premier League with Deccan Chargers. What’s your most striking memory from that time with the franchise?

There were so many exceptional cricketers in that dressing room – Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Rohit Sharma (who’s gone on to do wonders for Indian cricket), VVS Laxman. Learning and sharing with them taught me so much. We won the IPL title in 2009 in South Africa, playing as a true team. Everyone gave their best when it mattered. Coming from different countries, we became like a family, sharing everything.

It was 25 years ago that Mark Butcher scored a monumental 173 not out in England’s successful chase against Australia in the Headingley Test. He scored seven other Test hundreds, some of them against the most fearsome attacks. He is now a popular commentator and sharp analyst of the game. Excerpts from Butcher’s exclusive interview with The Hindu at Lord’s:

Your comparison of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi with Garry Sobers earlier this year got a lot of attention. It was fascinating, how you proved, through the help of visuals, the similarities in the bat swing, hand speed…

I watched him make that 175 [off 80 balls] in the Under-19 World Cup final [against England at Harare]. I was struck by that incredible, long, high backlift, the huge follow-through, the complete circle almost where the bat finishes around, tapping him on the spine. You know, Sobers used to hit a lot of shots with his feet together. He would play full balls almost off the back foot. And Sooryavanshi can hit them like that too.

Even if his career ends up not reaching the expectations that other people have, which I think is very unlikely, he has still in the IPL done something that all of the greatest players up until now have never, ever done: none of them have managed to score at a strike-rate of 230, hit that many sixes, be that consistent in the entirety of the IPL. It is still one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen.

Today’s youngsters are exposed to T20 from the beginning, whereas when I was very young, it was Test matches. They grow up thinking about batting very much in a hyper aggressive mode. These younger guys can do things at their age that we wouldn’t have dreamt of at ours.

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Yes, even Sachin Tendulkar didn’t hit as many sixes, for all his genius. Sooryavanshi is a product of the T20 era of cricket.

Correct. So he will have to learn the game the other way around. He will have to learn how to bat time, to defend. In our generation, it was the opposite. We would have to spend a lot of time learning how to hit the ball.

How do you recall your masterpiece — 173 not out in 2001?

My main memory is about that summer, really. I wasn’t expecting to play Test cricket again. I got an opportunity and I played 42 Tests in a row. I had completely changed my game.

Your father helped, didn’t he?

That is right. The biggest thing I remember is the relationship I had with my dad in the winter of 2001. I called him and said, ‘Dad, I am hating playing cricket.’ Something that I had always loved. Now I was hating it. And I said to him — ‘Treat me as though I have never played the game before.’ So we went right back to the beginning. He really taught me how to hold the bat, how to stand, the whole thing. We changed my grip. We changed my stance. We changed my backlift. Everything. We went back to zero. Like I was five years old. And we worked like that for about three months. And then I luckily got back into the team. I had made a few runs playing for Surrey. A few injuries in the England camp before the Ashes started, and I got in.

How much does that knock, which came against Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, mean to you?

Ah, it was huge. You wouldn’t be talking to me if it hadn’t been for that. And I wouldn’t be working in TV either. So that innings changed everything. It was the greatest day.

And how was the coach’s reaction?

I know my dad was in tears when [BBC] Test Match Special called him up.

The players you like to watch these days?

I actually love watching K.L. Rahul. I think he is a sensational player. Really classy. Harry Brook is fabulous to watch when he is in. Joe Root, too. And Travis Head — you can’t take your eyes off the screen when he is batting.

You have played against some of the greatest bowlers in history. Who were the most challenging among them?

Blimey! Curtly Ambrose. Him and Courtney Walsh. And then you had, obviously, Shane Warne. Glenn McGrath. Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan].

Among the Indians?

Harbhajan [Singh] and [Anil] Kumble, on those tracks.

And the batters you admired?

[Brian] Lara was sort of the king around about those times. Fellow left-hander, so I greatly admired him. Then the guys like [Ricky] Ponting, Sachin [Tendulkar], obviously. I remember applauding Ricky from second slip at the WACA, much to the annoyance of Nasser Hussain, who was standing next to me at slip. He glared at me. I was just standing there going, ‘Oh man, that’s good’. There were a lot of great players around, like the South Africans, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith.

Is there cause for concern about the future of Test cricket?

Yeah, of course, there is. What you would like is to have eight to ten teams who are competing on a level playing field. If only England, Australia and India are playing each other, the game is starting to eat itself, you know.

Eventually, one of the great things about all of the series that go around is that you are anticipating and you are excited about the idea about playing this team at this venue. But if it is the same three teams the whole time, it is not that exciting.

What has happened in the modern era is that the gap between the countries that have plenty of finances and the rest has got wider. The competition has perhaps thinned out a little bit in recent times. And that is a huge shame, that finances have meant that a lot of countries, the West Indies, being the most obvious example simply because of their dominance [in the past], have suffered.

South Africa are kind of hanging in there. They are still producing a lot of players and they still manage just about to keep enough of their most talented players to play Tests. But in places like Sri Lanka and the West Indies, they find it very difficult to keep their best players who disappear off to earn more money playing T20. And that is a problem for the world game.

The First Class game and the structures that produce Test Match cricketers are strong in some places and not very strong at all in others.

Your thoughts on Bazball?

I have been critical of it at times. In the game of cricket, the Test match is the game. And they tried to do something that was going to take the game to a different place. But Test match cricket kind of fought against it a little bit. Because when it came down to it, in the big games against the likes of India and Australia, it didn’t work. And so, Test match cricket is kind of greater than any idea that people might have around how you play it.

And Test cricket is the greatest form of sport.

It is. The sport itself dictates to you what is necessary. And if you push too hard, the game will bite you back. And that is what happened. There is as much pleasure to be taken from a really hard-fought draw sometimes as there is from smashing it all over the park.

ALSO READ | Cricket World Cup – Will expansion lead to elevation?

The women got to play a Test at Lord’s, finally.

This has come about because the world has decided, well, you know, this is a great game of cricket, right? Why would we want to stop 50% of the world’s population from enjoying and playing the sport that we think is a great sport? And so that opportunity is now there and what you are seeing is a product of that.

Players in the women’s game that you enjoy watching?

I like Smriti Mandhana’s batting. She is just an incredibly graceful player. So easy on the eye. Very, very lovely to watch. She plays pace and spin equally well. She reminds me of David Gower, in fact. Harmanpreet Kaur is very good to watch, too. And Jemimah Rodrigues is a fine technician.

Besides cricket, music is your other passion. And you had the opportunity of performing with Sarah Brightman, one of the greatest voices of our time.

It was good fun, singing some of Sarah’s favourite songs on live television. It was kind of nerve-racking, but it was good.

Since the start of the IPL, runs have been flowing from B. Sai Sudharsan’s bat. The Gujarat Titans opener had a great season, finishing as the third-highest run-getter (722 runs). He then seamlessly switched into the longer format, scoring 81 in the Test against Afghanistan before following it up with twin centuries for India-A in the two four-day games in Sri Lanka.

In this chat with The Hindu, the 24-year-old Tamil Nadu batter opens up about his “best IPL season” as well as his experience playing Test cricket over the last year. Excerpts:

How do you see this purple patch?

I am feeling really grateful for whatever I have done in the IPL. The way it started, the way it unfolded, the way it ended — it was very interesting.

I have always had good starts in every IPL. So this one was even more interesting because I didn’t score much in the first four to five games. Mentally, I won’t say it was challenging but more interesting, as belief, trust, and everything increased day by day rather than becoming doubtful. It was a very good IPL, and it was my best year.

Does it make it more special that you recovered from a tough start?

Yes, for sure, because when you are scoring, it is easy. When you keep playing, it is easier to believe and to be in a confident frame of mind. But when you don’t score, it’s even more important to feel the same way.

So, in that way, it was very interesting, and I learnt a lot in this IPL. When it is not converted into evidence, are you still trusting the process and your abilities? Mentally, when you enter the game, are you still thinking about not scoring in the previous match, or are you entering in an expressive frame of mind to make an impact for the team? So I think, in those ways, I learnt a lot — to not take the past into the game.

Was there a specific game that unlocked something for you?

Yes. I got a hundred against RCB. That was the game which actually changed quite a lot of things. We lost that match, yes, but that game gave us momentum. From there, the team also did well. The team faced a challenge: we were still doing well, but something was not going right. Then we won in Chennai, and from there, everybody’s game started going the way we wanted.

You came into the IPL after an injury lay-off due to a rib fracture. How difficult was the recovery?

Definitely, it was not easy because breathing was difficult. But sometimes, when you get a break, you have time to think about the game. You have time to really introspect about what you want to do. So I saw it as a blessing in disguise. At that time, I wanted to use it wisely and productively, so that I would still bat a lot mentally. I couldn’t do it physically, of course, but mentally I batted a lot and didn’t feel that I was away from the sport.

What did you specifically work on during those three to four months?

It’s more about the feel. The feeling of batting. All the small things I wanted to improve, all the small additions I wanted to make — I just did them in my head. I tried to visualise it more and sustain that feeling.

There’s a lot of talk around strike-rates. However, you and your opening partner, Shubman Gill, took a different approach, trying to bat long. How do you see it in the bigger picture when the demands of T20 cricket keep changing? Do you feel tempted to play at a higher tempo?

We’re not looking at it as ‘We have to play at this strike-rate to win’. We’re looking at it from a broader perspective — what is required for the game, rather than individual statistical points. We’re not looking at it as a stats-oriented approach. Yes, stats are very important for improving and getting better. But we’re not looking to predetermine how we’ll play. If we’re chasing 240, we have to play at a 200 strike-rate anyway. It’s situational, rather than saying we can only do well if we play at a particular strike-rate. As a team, as you rightly said, we’re trying to give ourselves the best chance of winning.

At the same time, don’t you feel it could affect your personal career?

It’s actually a great question because it’s actually a challenge as well. But I feel winning is the ultimate recipe, or the ultimate key, to whatever you want to do. You don’t have to think personally. For a team, winning is the ultimate recipe. If you make your team win, you will eventually get the call-up and recognition. Everything else is secondary. It is a by-product. The ultimate goal is to have the team’s intent to win. The way I’m looking at it is: Am I giving myself the best possible chance to contribute? I feel that if we put a constraint like that in place, we are holding ourselves back.

You have now scored more than 700 runs for the second consecutive season. How do you ensure you keep improving to stay ahead in a format that keeps changing?

Even during the tournament, the game is evolving. This year, there were two spectrums of games. Either they were very low-scoring or very high-scoring. At the start of the tournament, there were three or four situations in which it was still possible to hit the ball correctly. I learnt certain things from that. I got out to balls that weren’t really wicket-taking deliveries. They were short, into the body, down the side of the leg. So I felt there was still space for the right movements to happen, and then you score runs. I worked more on that. Similarly, there were many examples from last year and this year. At certain times, I wasn’t finishing games, so I wanted to finish games. I feel I’m aware of those things. I keep building on them so the batting works automatically.

How do you handle not being in India’s T20 plans despite two very good IPL seasons?

There is nothing to handle. No disappointment, no expectation. We have a job in our hands. As simple as that. I know it may sound contradictory to many people. Yes, everybody wants to play for the country, and I want it even more. But what’s important is understanding what is within our control and what we should be hungry for. In the IPL, the important job is to put the team where we want it to be and win the tournament.

That’s the biggest priority. Selection comes as a by-product. There are still many things I can improve. I can work on those, come back to the IPL, and make an even bigger impact. Those are the things I have in my control, and I will back myself to do that every year.

Your assessment of your first year as a Test cricketer?

It is interesting. Even a small weakness or flaw will be challenged. As a batter, you have to keep improving and evolving from all those small things. It changes every single day and every single session. To be versatile enough to understand that and be smart is very important. But the satisfaction you get from scoring runs in Tests is unparalleled. You toil for five days. The hard work on the fourth or fifth day, when you get those runs or that win, is just very satisfying.

What have been the biggest learnings from the first year?

We have to keep evolving as batters, and there isn’t much time to do so. You have to be smart enough to pick things up and evolve. I feel it is all about owning that place. I could have owned it a bit more. I could have been a bit freer. The more ownership I take, and the more courage I have to go out there and express myself, the more I feel I’ll be able to bring out the best version of myself. That’s probably the biggest learning for me.

A little bit of that happened during the Afghanistan series. It helped me express myself more rather than trying to be right.

But hats off to my team: because of the support staff, the communication, and the way they supported and backed me — I was very happy with that.

Even in the Kolkata Test (vs. South Africa), which I didn’t play, I was very comfortable because the communication was very clear. We were looking at an extra spinner to give us the best chance. The communication was very clear, and as a player, you need that freedom.

During the West Indies series, GG (Gautam Gambhir) sir was very communicative. He backed me really well. In the Delhi Test (vs. West Indies), I was actually happy because I understood my batting better. I needed that clarity at that time, so it was very helpful to me.

I feel my batting has also become a little more fine-tuned. Decision-making, footwork, and movement in the crease—these experiences have helped me further fine-tune my game.

After the South Africa tour, I had quite a lot of time to prepare, understand those things and fine-tune them.

You have been dismissed twice in the 80s. Do you regret not converting those starts?

I’d agree that it was a little disappointing not to convert them. But at the same time, I was really happy with the level of control I had and the intensity of my play. The feeling while batting was really good, and the control was good. So I’m looking forward to building on that. The big score will come when it’s supposed to come.

There has been some criticism surrounding your First Class average. Are you aware of that, and how do you handle it?

Honestly, I’m not even aware of my own statistics. I don’t know how many matches I’ve played, how many hundreds I’ve scored or what my average is. Even in the IPL, I don’t know how many games I’ve played or how many runs I’ve scored. The reason is simple — I don’t want to judge myself based on statistics. I believe more in the experience than the numbers.

One game might be on a raging turner. Another game could be on a seaming wicket. Every match presents a different challenge. So it’s very difficult for me to look at my average and tell myself, ‘I’m batting well because my average is good’ or, ‘I’m batting badly because my average isn’t good enough’. For me, it’s about being fully present in that particular situation and doing the best I possibly can.

How was your experience of playing those two four-day games in Sri Lanka?

It was a really valuable experience and a great opportunity for us to understand the conditions. There was more breeze, a little more bounce and a little more turn than what we’re generally used to. Even the bowling culture there is different.

The bowlers are extremely consistent and disciplined rather than relying on something extraordinary. As a batter, getting more game time in Test cricket is always the best opportunity to learn.

Luckily, we played at Galle, so we got an opportunity to understand how the wickets behaved and how they generally prepared the surfaces. Overall, it was a really good experience and a great opportunity for us to understand the conditions.

Can you elaborate on the impact of the breeze?

The strong breeze changes everything. Because of the wind, the ball’s line changes quite a lot. Experiencing that was really valuable. It’s actually very similar to England. In England, the fast bowlers get late movement. Here, because of the breeze, the spinners get late drift. So you can’t commit too early, and you can’t judge the length too early. You have to keep judging the ball as late as possible because it keeps changing its line.

What’s the next month looking like for you?

The next month will be a proper off-season with some long practice sessions. Overall, it’s a great window to work hard and build towards the coming season. There are two main areas. The first is from a physical perspective. I want to become stronger, leaner, and fitter, especially in my movement and recovery, so that I can recover better and faster.

The second is my batting. I want to continue fine-tuning my game against spin. We have a series against Sri Lanka, where the conditions are quite similar, and then a couple of Tests in New Zealand, which will obviously present a different challenge. So my focus is on improving my batting against spin, better understanding my footwork, and continuing to develop my game.

Mark Butcher.
| Photo Credit: P.K. Ajith Kumar