Sri Lanka should focus on a long-term captain for its national cricket team, former cricketer and commentator Marvan Atapattu said.

Speaking during an interview, Atapattu said the decision must be made after forming a plan and carefully analyzing the cricket team’s schedule for the next two to three years.

Stating that the captain should be chosen based on the needs of the team and not otherwise, Atapattu said a leaf could be taken out of South Africa’s appointment of Graham Smith as skipper.

He further said the captain should find a place in the team because of his performance not because he is the captain.

Also commenting on the matter of captaincy, former Sri Lanka cricketer Chaminda Vaas said that based on the present situation, he would prefer Dhananjaya de Silva to lead Sri Lanka in both Test and One Day cricket.

Pointing out that Dhananjaya de Silva had faced an injustice concerning the batting order, Vaas said the cricketer should play in No 4 in top order than at the current position of late middle-order.