What is South African batting depth minus Hashim Amla?

If depth in batting is spine for any batting line-up, South African batting is spineless without Hashim Amla. The bearded batsman with a shaved scalp is team’s most dependable batsman for last five years; so dependable that he always scores more runs than anybody’s expectations. Hashim Amla – world’s number 1 ranked batsman – may miss the second cricket Test against Pakistan starting on 23 October at Dubai. 

Hashim Amla flew to his hometown Durban after the first Test match to be with his wife for the imminent birth of their second child expected at any moment leaving his team hoping him to join well in time for the second match of the Test series. He was the only centurion for South Africa in the first Test, a role he has been consistently playing for quite a while.

Two cleric-looking cricketers with long beards made great impact on game of cricket – WG Grace and Hashim Amla – having Test careers more than a century apart. WG Grace played his last Test in 1899 before the start of twentieth century and Hashim Amla played his first Test in 2004, four years after the twentieth century ended. 

Not all South African batsmen have been consistently scoring runs this year. In ten months so far in 2013, only Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have scored bulk of runs for South Africa in Test matches. In fact, apart from these two, other five batsmen in South African batting line-up are not in good form in 2013. 

Hashim Amla has scored 590 runs in 6 Test matches at an average of 73.75 in 2013. In the previous year, he had scored 1064 runs in 10 Test matches at 70.93 including a triple century against England at The Oval. Before that, he had already scored more than 1000 Test runs in 2008 and 2010 also, making him the most consistent batsman in Test cricket in recent years.

AB de Villiers has also been as consistent as Hashim Amla. He has scored 579 runs in 6 Test matches at an average of 72.37 in 2013. He too had a good 2012 as he scored 815 runs at 58.21 in 10 Test matches. Like Hashim Amla he crossed 1000 runs mark in 2008 and missed by only four runs in 2010.

Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have been scoring heavily, but what about other batsmen in South African team? Two of their all-time greats and most experienced batsmen Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith are having a disappointing year so far. Three more batsmen Alviro Petersen, Faf de Plessis and JP Duminy are not among runs too. Only two of seven-cylinder’ South African batting engine are firing. 

Jacques Kallis has averaged only 19.12 in five Test matches he has played in 2013 so far. His total tally of runs is only 153 with just two half centuries. Prior to 2013, he had averaged fifty plus in almost every year of his Test career. At 38, he simply seems to be at twilight of his playing career. 

Graeme Smith’s average in 2013 is slightly better than Kallis – 25.66 for his 231 runs in six Test matches with only two half centuries. Other opener Alviro Petersen has almost identical record – 24.66 for his 222 runs in six Test matches with only one century and no other fifty.

JP Duminy has played only one Test match in 2013. It was first Test of the current series in which he scored 57 and 0. Faf de Plessis has scored 275 in 6 Test matches at an average of 34.37 with only one century and no other fifty.

Alien conditions cannot be blamed for dismal records of South African batsmen. Abu Dhabi Test was the only match that South Africans played abroad while other five Test matches in 2013 were played in South Africa. It is only the form of all batsmen other than Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers that haunts South African supporters. 

If Hashim Amla does not return for Dubai Test, the possible replacement would be Dean Elgar. He has played five Test matches in 2013 and scored 192 runs at an average of 48.00, but it is primarily due to his only good innings of the year when he scored an unbeaten 103 against New Zealand at Port Elizabeth in January. He too has not scored enough runs since then.

In the Abu Dhabi Test, Hashim Amla was the only centurion from South African team while AB de Villiers scored a ninety. What could be the possible depth of South African batting minus Hashim Amla? It would merely be redundant to an engine with only one cylinder firing.