AB de Villiers Keeping in the PE Test Could Come Back to Bite South Africa

AB de Villiers will keep wicket for South Africa in the second Test against the West Indies in Port Elizabeth after Quinton de Kock was ruled out through injury. De Kock tore the ligaments in his ankle during the warm-ups of the Centurion Test and has been ruled out for six to eight weeks.

It seems the most logical solution. De Villiers took over the gloves for South Africa when Mark Boucher was forced to retire through injury and applied himself aptly. However, he has had issues with a back injury before, which could be aggravated by keeping wicket.

The track at St. George’s Park is slow and low. This means that keeping wicket is a notoriously difficult task. There’s a lot of bending up and down, which could have an impact on De Villiers.

While that would not be too much of a problem under normal circumstances, with a World Cup coming up it could come back to bite them. Should De Villiers’ back flare up due to the task of taking the gloves, South Africa will be in a whole lot of trouble. Not only will they be without their mainstay batsman for the World Cup, but there is also the risk that De Kock might not recover from his injury in time.

That, of course, is the worst-case scenario, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth thinking about. The selectors have opted for Rilee Rossouw as cover for De Kock, and while he is unlikely to play, it is a somewhat odd replacement.

If South Africa were pragmatic, they would have selected Morne van Wyk as cover.

Van Wyk has never played a Test and has an unremarkable first-class average of 36.99. However, he did crack the nod for South Africa's provisional World Cup team and has a wealth of experience domestically, with 450 caps across all formats.

Van Wyk was part of the 2011 World Cup side and is the most likely back-up should South Africa require cover for the World Cup.

Handing him a Test cap might seem like a stretch, but it would have allowed De Villiers some reprieve and given him a taste of international cricket should his services be required for the global competition starting in February.

None of that has transpired, though, and the Proteas will have to work with what they’ve got. However, even that is no longer straightforward. The simplest solution would have been to slot an extra bowler into the team to replace De Kock. Robin Peterson could have filled the role of a spinner as well as batting a bit, but that’s no longer possible.

Peterson picked up an injury during training on Tuesday, splitting the webbing on his bowling hand and needing two stitches. He has since been ruled out of contention and replaced by Imran Tahir. With St. George’s Park likely to offer more turn than in Centurion, South Africa have said that they feel a spinner is crucial. Faf du Plessis hinted at Tuesday’s press conference that there could be another new face in the team.

That means Temba Bavuma is likely to slot in lower down the order with Tahir coming in to replace Kyle Abbott. While South Africa are reluctant to have too many new faces in the side, there is no better time to blood a rookie than against a weakened West Indies attack. Bavuma looked shaky in Tuesday’s net sessions, but he has been knocking on the selection door for quite some time.

The players who have made their debuts in recent months have had great success, and Du Plessis credited the team environment for this on Tuesday. Whether there is a new face in the team or not, though, South Africa will be crossing everything in the hopes of nothing severe happening to De Villiers.

All information obtained firsthand.