In 2004 Vaas gained international recognition when he was selected for the World Test and one-day XI at the inaugural ICC Awards.

[4] Vaas was also the first Sri Lankan to take a hat-trick in the ODI format of the game which he did in 2001 against Zimbabwe, and at a Cricket World Cup, which he did against Bangladesh in the 2003 tournament.

[7] He also joined Northamptonshire County Cricket Club for the 2010 T20 competition and found himself in the unusual position of opening the batting although he did well recording three half centuries.

[13] In August 2004, he took six wickets in the second innings at the SSC to deliver Sri Lanka their first-ever series win over South Africa by handing out a comprehensive thrashing.

Along with rookie fast bowler Lasith Malinga, a canny Vaas exploited conditions far better than the visitors and in the fourth innings the pair terrorised South Africa's batsmen.

[14] In July 2005, Vaas completed another excellent contest against West Indies, taking 13 wickets in a 2-0 drubbing to become Man of the Series.

He joined Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and his teammate Muttiah Muralitharan as only the fourth bowler in international cricket to have taken 400 ODI wickets.

[26][6] Vaas was a left arm swing bowler known for his accuracy and consistent line and length,[27][28][29] which his former captain Aravinda de Silva once described as "accurate, nagging, hard to get away".

[29] Due to his accuracy with the new ball he would be tasked with opening the bowling, as illustrated by the number of times he dismissed important higher and middle order batsmen such as Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Stephen Fleming.

[2][31] He became noted for his inswinger and well-disguised off cutter and, as his pace dropped over the years, later added reverse swing to his armoury.

He achieved his 300th test wicket on 12 December 2005 against India, becoming one of the three Sri Lankan bowlers to pass this milestone, along with Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath.

Vaas holds the record for the best bowling performance in one-day international cricket with his 8 for 19 off eight overs against Zimbabwe at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in December 2001.

[45] In October 2012, he was contracted to coach the New Zealand fast bowlers during their tour of Sri Lanka, which included two Test matches.

His short-term assignment included two T20Is against United Arab Emirates cricket team in UAE and 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India.

[52] However, Vaas resigned on 21 February on the eve of Sri Lanka's departure for their tour of West Indies citing salary issues.

"[54][58][59] He suffered some minor injuries during the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team bus by gunmen in Lahore which resulted in the abandonment of that Test series against Pakistan.

[60][61] According to Bill Frindall, scorer and statistician for BBC Radio's Test Match Special, Chaminda is actually his penultimate given name, therefore his initials should read WPUJC.

[67] In 2015, Vaas and former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu were awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club.