5 immediate challenges for Ottis Gibson as South Africa coach

South Africa have been going through a tough phase, especially in their last couple of years. A heart-wrenching defeat in the ICC World Cup 2015 semifinal was followed by some underwhelming performances from the Proteas; something you don’t usually get to see.

With Russell Domingo’s term as their head-coach coming to an end, current fast bowling coach of the England team -- Ottis Gibson -- is expected to take over as the South Africa coach soon.

Lots to look forward to for the new coach, with a team looking to redeem themselves and prove to the world that they still are a very strong team in all forms of the game. Ottis Gibson will take over a South African team going through a dull phase across all formats.

Here are the 5 immediate challenges for Ottis Gibson as South Africa coach:

#5 Getting their test cricket back on track

South African teams over the years have proven to be really strong test teams. They have had the right team to trouble oppositions consistently. The fighting spirit and the never die attitude is something they pride themselves on.

Over the past few years, South Africa have tasted some memorable successes in test matches, but overall they have disappointed. They have won 9, lost 9 out of their last 25 test matches.

The win percentage has surely come down in South Africa's case but what would worry their fans more is the complete lack of fight shown by their team in some of their recent test outings, be it in England, or the defeats in India.

Ottis Gibson needs to rally his troops, give them some much-needed confidence and backing to go out and perform in the test match format. Some of the defeats were caused by the unexpected lack of attitude and fight shown by the Proteas.

As the new coach, he needs to assess what’s troubling their game and find out solutions to rectify them quickly. Once they get back their mojo, this South Africa team can get back to their old competing, dominating self.

#4 Finding solutions to improve the stability of the batting order

First T20 International: South Africa v Australia

One look at the recent performances of South Africa, and you can come to a conclusion that their batting order has looked fragile and unstable. Across all formats, the Proteas have lacked bite in the batting order.

Losing a superstar like AB Devilliers for such a long period of time has had a huge impact on the Proteas batting across all formats. He was the balancing factor in the middle order who could guide the batting line up to do well.

The batting line up has been plagued by injuries, poor form and inconsistency, a concern that Gibson would have to look into with immediate urgency. Far too many batsmen have been moved around too much in the batting order.

The inconsistency of their star batsmen when ABD was injured has hurt them even more. The likes of Hashim Amla, Faf Du Plessis and Quinton De Kock have performed well, but having to bear the complete burden of carrying the batting line up they have not lived up to expectations.

Gibson would need to find solutions to end this dependency on those three players, but he would most surely be assisted by the welcome inclusion of ABD across all formats. As he lifts their team’s performance and batsmen who bat around him feel lesser pressure and start performing better.

But can the inclusion of the charismatic ABD be the solution to South Africa’s unstable batting over the past few years? Only time will tell, but Gibson should find other probable alternatives as well.

#3 Putting an end to the spinners drought

Imran Tahir

South Africa have predominantly depended on their fast bowlers to strike and provide them crucial wickets. In the recent past, the emergence of Imran Tahir has been an added bonus for the Proteas.

His deception and accurate leg-spinners make him a lethal weapon for South Africa to have. But what challenge Gibson would face is to get few more spinners into the mix, as the dependence on one spinner can prove to be fatal if he’s injured or, down the line, if he retires.

South Africa had Simon Harmer and Dane Piedt in the test team. They lost Harmer due to the Kolpak deal and Piedt through his poor form was over looked. Shamsi, the unorthodox left-arm spinner, has been tried as a backup to Tahir in the shorter forms of the game.

But it can be easily said that apart from Imran Tahir, no spinner has caused any troubles and Shamsi has been rather disappointing when he has been given an opportunity.

Gibson would have to seriously contemplate about this issue and look at the domestic circuit to find a bunch of talented spinners who can play for the country. Once that’s done the selectors would have to be patient and give the spinners enough opportunities, and supported by Tahir they would be hopeful of better returns when compared to Shamsi and Piedt who have underperformed.

#2 Quinton De Kock- The only wicket-keeper around?

Quinton De Kock

With AB de Villiers having given up wicket-keeping because of his back problems, Quinton De Kock has become the only wicket-keeper for the South African team across all formats.

We must appreciate how well De Kock has accepted the responsibility of keeping wickets in all formats of the game, doing a good job at that and scoring runs consistently on most occasions.

South Africa did try David Villas as the keeper in test matches once ABD stepped down as the wicket keeper, but his batting was a letdown. He was not very effective behind the stumps as well thereby forcing De Kock to take over.

The question to be asked and which needs answering is- Is Quinton De Kock the only wicket keeper in the country? Ottis Gibson would need to think a lot about this, as it is a big cause of concern.

The domestic circuit would have to churn out some alternatives apart from Quinton De Kock. Heading into the World Cup in 2019, De Kock would be hoping that someone can rise through the ranks and can replace him as the wicket-keeper in T20I’s at least, which could ease his workload and can help him be physically and mentally ready for all challenges.

#1 The all-rounders coming through the ranks are not good enough

Vernon Philander

South Africa are a team known to have a stock of quality all-rounders who can win matches with either bat or ball on a given day. But off-late, barring Chris Morris and the surprise inclusion of Vernon Philander as a bowling all-rounder, the other options aren’t good enough.

South Africa’s go to man JP Duminy has been in woeful form in test matches and hasn’t added much value being part of the ODI and T20 team as well. The likes of Phulekayo, Dane Pretorius, and Farhan Berhadien have just not managed to impress off late.

The biggest positives have been Chris Morris whose impressive bowling and dynamic batting in the lower order has been a huge positive for South Africa in all the three formats. Recently, in the England test series, we witnessed the batsman in Vernon Philander thriving.

One of their biggest strengths as a team in any format is their ability to have multi-purpose players who can bat and ball effectively. There seems to be a dearth of such players coming through the system, and as the new head coach Gibson would surely keep a close eye on this challenge and look to find a solution for it.

A big challenge, a worrying aspect of South Africa’s game which Ottis Gibson should look to rectify as the head coach at the earliest.