As the Proteas ponder who’ll take AB de Villiers’ spot in the batting order, especially in one-day cricket, the focus has very much been on which younger player could take the position by the scruff of the neck.

Yet national coach Ottis Gibson has raised the intriguing possibility of a familiar face fulfilling that potential role.

ALSO READ: Ottis Gibson on AB: I’d jump at the chance of making him a coach

Dean Elgar has never made a secret of the fact that he wants to play white-ball cricket for the South Africa despite only being considered a Test opener currently.

The gritty left-hander has been in excellent form for his county Surrey to date in England’s domestic limited overs competition, cashing in with scores of 91, 50 and 87 in his last three innings.

???? Dean Elgar with our second maximum! Surrey are now 65 for 1 (Roy 40, Elgar 22) pic.twitter.com/JciZhffXxl — Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 27, 2018

2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ up. Surrey pass two hundred with Elgar on to 78* and Foakes 37* pic.twitter.com/aKYTXvtDi4 — Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 27, 2018

To be honest, there’s actually little argument to pigeonhole the 30-year-old – he averages over 42 in all 50-over cricket and has a good strike rate of 80.

“He’s not out of the picture,” said Gibson.

“I guess we haven’t looked at Dean since I’ve been appointed and it’s gone on before that too. I would definitely think AB’s departure makes him part of the conversation again.”

Elgar enjoyed a profitable stint with another county, Somerset, last year, which illustrates that he’s comfortable in English conditions.

And that potentially strengthens his case for World Cup consideration next year as the showpiece is being held in the UK.

“When it comes to picking the team for the World Cup, we’ll go and select players that we think can perform effectively in the conditions we’ll face in England,” said Gibson.

“Dean playing country cricket puts himself in the picture. When you look at his record playing there, he’s done really well.”