'AB's retirement came as a shock to me' – Ottis Gibson

Ottis Gibson, South Africa's coach, said AB de Villiers' decision to retire from all international cricket came as a shock to him.

Yet, with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 a year away, Gibson threw open a challenge to young cricketers in South Africa to stand up and stake their case to fill de Villiers' vacated spot.

"The announcement came as a shock to me," said Gibson. "We had a conversation when he called me in the morning before he made the announcement.

"We had a long conversation and I asked, 'Are you sure you are doing the right thing?' He reckoned that he is. He had spoken with people he is close to, people that advise him and he reckons that he is tired.

"Of course, it is disappointing. He is one of the best players in the world. It would have made a huge difference in the World Cup. He knows that. But he has chosen to walk away at this time, and it is what it is."

With the Cricket World Cup 2019 beginning on 30 May in England and Wales, it gives South Africa a little time to cover his absence, and Gibson said a process was in place.

"He gave me a year to find an appropriate replacement for him. I don't believe he can be replaced, but it gives an opportunity for somebody to put their hand up," he said. "If I was a young cricketer playing franchise cricket in the country and I see the No.4 spot open, I would do whatever I can to make this position mine."

Gibson agreed that 23-year-old Aiden Markram, who recently led South Africa in the one-day international series against India, was one of the candidates who could replace the batting legend.

"Yes, for sure," he said. "There are other candidates as well. I cannot start calling names because it gives people false hopes. But there will be plenty of other opportunities. We have starting this thing where we have a pool and and we know where the cut-off point is.

"We have got 18 international games between now and the World Cup. Having known where the cut-off point is, we will be a little bit more specific in the last 10-12 games before the World Cup."

South Africa's first assignment in the post-de Villiers era is a tour of Sri Lanka, which comprises two Tests, five ODIs and one T20I. But while replacing de Villiers is on the agenda, the bowling resources need attention too.

With Morne Morkel's retirement after the home Test series against Australia in March and Dale Steyn's injury-enforced absence since January, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi will have to shoulder much of the responsibility alongside Vernon Philander.

However, Rabada suffered a lower-back stress reaction after the Australia series and consequently missed the IPL where he was supposed to play for Delhi Daredevils. Ngidi did play in the IPL, though, and was part of the Chennai Super Kings side that won the title. He picked up 11 wickets in seven matches, including 1/26 in the final.

"KG (Rabada) is going to start to bowl tomorrow. He is doing a lot of rehab with the medical staff and reports are he is travelling very well," said Gibson.

"With Lungi, we are very pleased with how he has done in the IPL. He got in the team, played in the final and bowled very well to help his team win the final. He got his opportunity last summer and we are expecting great things from him going forward."

Rabada and Ngidi playing well puts the spotlight on senior fast bowlers Philander and Steyn. While both the veterans played in the last World Cup, the probability of a final swansong – both Philander and Steyn are over 30 – is still there.

"We know what Vernon can do. We just need to widen the pool (of players). Dale Steyn could come in for the World Cup. We just lost Morne Morkel, we lost AB, so Steyn can come into the conversation for the World Cup. But we don't need to see Steyn now. Steyn's priority right now is to try and get fit and same is with Vern," Gibson added.

"Vern has had a lot of fitness issues. He was brilliant last summer. He played every Test match he was picked in and finished and stayed on the park. He was outstanding as the leader of the bowling attack for us. So once we get down to the last 10 one-dayers, his name could very well come into the picture."

This will be Gibson's second season as head coach of South Africa, having replaced Russell Domingo in August 2017, and South Africa were successful in Test cricket at home under him. They beat Bangladesh 2-0 (2) before defeating Zimbabwe 1-0 (1) in the first pink-ball day/night Test in South Africa. Later in the summer, they went on to win against India and Australia.

It was a mixed bag in limited-overs cricket, though, as after beating Bangladesh in ODIs and T20Is, they lost the six-match ODI series to India 5-1 and the three-match T20I series 2-1.

"To win eight out of 10 Test matches was very good," Gibson said, reflecting on his tenure. "The one-day series didn't go as well as it could have gone but when you look at all the injuries that we have had to keep up with in the white-ball format and also the fact we said we are going to widen the pool of players, it gives us an opportunity to sit back and assess where we are with white-ball cricket and how we are going to move forward."