SA to test their depth in De Villiers' absence

Picture the typical South African sportsman: rugged, rough, resilient. If you had to put a face to that man, what would he look like? Francois Pienaar? Lucas Radebe? If cricket is your game, he is AB de Villiers.

It doesn't matter what the rankings say, de Villiers is widely acknowledged as the world's best batsman right now. For the record, the ICC's rating system agrees in the ODI format and until last month, de Villiers led their Test batting charts too. South Africa's inaction and Steven Smith's sublime form has meant a change at the No. 1 position but for South Africans (and maybe a few others), de Villiers simply cannot be usurped that easily.

"You will never replace AB. He is a special player," Ryan McLaren, who is part of South Africa's ODI squad in Bangladesh said.

Yet that is what South Africa will attempt to do for the rest of the tour.

De Villiers will not feature in the one-day or Test series. The absence is mostly personal - he is expecting his first child soon, which was why he was was excluded from the Test squad. He had also copped a one-match ODI ban for a slow over-rate during the 2015 World Cup, and the team management decided they may as well send de Villiers home early. To help his wife Danielle with preparations for the baby's arrival and to give other players a chance ahead of a nine-month season, in which South Africa will have to rely on rotation as much as anything else.

They may also have wanted to see how well they can cope without de Villiers, who remains the lynchpin around which the South African wheel turns. After all, even someone who seems as evergreen as de Villiers can, will not be around forever and, with the next 50-over World Cup four years away, now is as good a time as ever to start thinking of a succession plan.

"He has been our leader for such a long time," McLaren said. "Obviously he has been an incredible batsman over the years. We love him having him as our leader and captain. We will miss him. He is a freak of nature but we will have to make do without him. Simple as that."

Part of the making do is in the leadership stakes, South Africa haven't looked that far beyond the obvious. Hashim Amla will stand-in for de Villiers, which will also provide some continuity going into the Tests, where Amla is also in charge.

The vacancy in the batting order though will present an opportunity for Rilee Rossouw and Farhaan Behardien to show what they are capable of.

Rossouw had already done that to some extent in the T20s. He was used as a finisher and adapted his game to be more attacking quite well. South Africa have not been able to find a permanent spot for him in the batting order and so he has been shifted around. Rossouw's flexibility will work in his favour in future but he would also like to be able to make a particular position his own and this series could present the chance to do that.

Behardien's burden is greater because he is still seen as a fringe player. His medium-pace bowling could push him into the starting XI because of the conditions, in which the offcutter has proved handy, but Behardien is primarily a batsman and will want to show that.

At the World Cup, he spoke of his desire to emulate de Villiers and this could be his chance to do that. Behardien is still likely to bat lower than Rossouw and will need to capitalise on any time he gets at the crease to press for a permanent spot.

Being without de Villiers could also allow South Africa to experiment with playing more allrounders in the starting XI. They have three in the squad - McLaren, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell.

McLaren will be looking to take back the position that was his before he was dumped ahead of the World Cup. He had succeeded Jacques Kallis as South Africa's two-in-one, albeit in a different role (as a bowling allrounder, not a batting one), but a poor tour of Australia in late 2014 cost him his place. Now McLaren is back and looking forward to a "a fresh start."

So are South Africa, who will play 50-over cricket for the first time since the World Cup and will want to gain back their confidence in the format even without their best player.