Sri Lanka has followed in the footsteps of the great Aussies in appointing seperate captains for the tests and ODI
Sri Lanka appoint separate Test and ODI captain](http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/APR/170580_SL_17APR2003.html)
Sri Lanka’s selectors have decided to split the Test and one-day captaincy, handing over leadership of the Test side to Hashan Tillakaratne and appointing Marvan Atapattu as the one-day skipper.
The appointments, which will now have to be ratified by the sports minister, were finalised on Thursday afternoon.
Marvan Atapattu, vice-captain to Sanath Jayasuriya, had been expected to take over complete leadership but the panel decided instead to follow the Australian model of separate captains.
Tillakaratne, who has previously captained the national side in one Test against Pakistan in 1999, will take over immediately, leading Sri Lanka in the two-Test series against New Zealand starting April 25.
The appointment completes a remarkable comeback by the 35-year-old left-hander, who spent two years out of the national side after the 1999 World Cup when the selectors pursued a hardline youth policy.
During that period he boosted his captain credentials by leading his domestic club, the Nondescripts Cricket Club, to the first-class championship in 2000-01.
And following his return to the national side in August 2001 he cemented a place in the Test team with a glut of runs, scoring 1053 runs at an average 75.21 with four centuries and two fifties.
Atapattu, 32, has captained Sri Lanka in both forms of the game, impressing during Sri Lanka’s last Test, played against South Africa at Centurion, when he stood in for the injured Jayasuriya.
