South Africa went to Bangladesh hoping to obtain some clarity on their Test opening pair, and on their front-line spinner. They did not expect to find murkiness on their choice of wicketkeeper, which will only further complicate their state of transition.
While Stiaan van Zyl and Dean Elgar showed what Hashim Amla has described as "a lot of promise and positivity," and Simon Harmer displayed his ability with the ball, Quinton de Kock has stagnated so much, he has even been dropped. De Kock has played all the matches on the ongoing Bangladesh tour - two T20Is, three ODIs and a Test - with a total of 100 runs to his name, a top score of 44 and an uncertainty outside offstump that has become impossible to ignore. As a result, Dane Vilas will instead make his debut in Mirpur in the absence of AB de Villiers, who is on paternity leave, to create competition behind the stumps and give de Kock a second wake-up call in his fledgling career.
De Kock has been benched before, after an unsuccessful series in Sri Lanka early in his international career. Then, he had played five T20s and seven ODIs and appeared out of his depth, particularly in unfamiliar conditions. De Kock's lack of footwork and confidence cost him his wicket all too often and eventually, his place in the side. He was sent back to the domestic game to practice and he did that, endlessly.
His franchise coach, Geoffrey Toyana, spent hours in the nets as de Kock worked on his awareness, his ability against spin and taming his irrepressible aggression. The result was a more resolute and relaxed player, who reeled off three centuries in succession against India in December 2013.
De Kock fast-forwarded through the next six months. He was promoted to take over from de Villiers as the first-choice wicketkeeper, and made his Test debut. He was considered an integral part of the set-up and was expected to set the World Cup alight. But then his fire was put out by a freak injury and things have not been the same.
De Kock tore ligaments in his ankle in mid-December last year, during a Test against West Indies, and was expected to be out of the game for three months, threatening his World Cup. South Africa did not want that, so de Kock's rehabilitation was fast-tracked. Instead of surgery, he was treated conservatively and made a speedy recovery. By late January, he was back on the park, but his form was not.
He went through the World Cup without contributing much, save for an undefeated 78 in the quarter-final against Sri Lanka, and seemed to lack the spark of earlier. His feet went back to being stuck and, as if overcompensating, his arms swung desperately and widely in response. He nicked off, he played down the wrong line, he was late on some strokes and early on others, he left stumps exposed and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the middle. Now, he has been sent there.
Former selector Hugh Page, who is a de Kock admirer, believes it was the right decision to drop the wicketkeeper-batsman. "Things have gone his way for the last year or so and when that happens guys can start to think things have become easy. Now he has been given a bit of a reality check," Page told ESPNcricinfo. "I don't think it's a bad thing to let him know that some hard work is in order. And it's also good to create competition. It keeps the other guys interested and makes sure they don't lose faith in the system."
The wicketkeeper's position is not one that changes gloves often, and in South Africa's case, it barely changed at all for a decade. Mark Boucher held a monopoly over the spot for a decade and South Africa forgot to create a succession plan. Had de Kock not arrived on the scene, they may still be relying on de Villiers' bad back and scouting for someone else.
South Africa would not want to create the same situation in the future, which made it important not to persist with an out-of-form de Kock, especially since there are other options available. Vilas has a first-class average of 41.00 and has been solid for the Cobras behind the stumps. He deserves a chance and has got one, but for how long?
De Kock is expected to be back soon and Page believes he has probably even been briefed on what he needs to do to take back his place. "I would hope that there is a decent level of communication and that the coach has told him, 'We've done our best to keep you in the side but now you need to go and do the work," Page said.
Exactly where that work will take place is not certain. The best option would be to send to de Kock on South Africa A's trip to India, even though it clashes with the New Zealand series at home, to get him ready for a summer which includes two more trips to the subcontinent. South Africa have a full tour of India later this year, culminating in the 2016 World T20.
If de Kock is to be part of South Africa's plans for those series, he needs to adapt to conditions. As Amla put it, "Playing Test cricket in the subcontinent is hard work. One of our players said earlier if it was easy it would be called easy cricket, it's not for faint-hearted." If Amla's words are anything to go by, de Kock needs to toughen up.
While he does that, South Africa can assess if Vilas is the right man to take over the gloves. If they want to test alternatives, they can do it against New Zealand. Any other experimentation, particularly in the longer format, will have to be done in Bangladesh, but it seems unlikely at the moment.
Amla indicated Kagiso Rabada will have to wait for a Test debut while the premier pace pack find their feet. "We've got three-and-a-half seamers now. I don't think we are going to add another one," he said. Sticking with Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and van Zyl will also ensure South Africa do not cloud their own thinking anymore or appear to be making knee-jerk reactions in search of a series win, which Amla has impressed is not as essential as we may think.
"I don't think it's a must-win game. I don't think there are any knockouts in Test cricket as yet but we are here to win," Amla said. "We haven't showed our full array as yet and it would be great if we can do it in this Test."