5 immediate challenges for Ottis Gibson as South Africa coach

South Africa have been going through a tough phase, especially in their last couple of years. A heart-wrenching defeat in the ICC World Cup 2015 semifinal was followed by some underwhelming performances from the Proteas; something you don’t usually get to see.

With Russell Domingo’s term as their head-coach coming to an end, current fast bowling coach of the England team -- Ottis Gibson -- is expected to take over as the South Africa coach soon.

Lots to look forward to for the new coach, with a team looking to redeem themselves and prove to the world that they still are a very strong team in all forms of the game. Ottis Gibson will take over a South African team going through a dull phase across all formats.

Here are the 5 immediate challenges for Ottis Gibson as South Africa coach:

#5 Getting their test cricket back on track

South African teams over the years have proven to be really strong test teams. They have had the right team to trouble oppositions consistently. The fighting spirit and the never die attitude is something they pride themselves on.

Over the past few years, South Africa have tasted some memorable successes in test matches, but overall they have disappointed. They have won 9, lost 9 out of their last 25 test matches.

The win percentage has surely come down in South Africa's case but what would worry their fans more is the complete lack of fight shown by their team in some of their recent test outings, be it in England, or the defeats in India.

Ottis Gibson needs to rally his troops, give them some much-needed confidence and backing to go out and perform in the test match format. Some of the defeats were caused by the unexpected lack of attitude and fight shown by the Proteas.

As the new coach, he needs to assess what’s troubling their game and find out solutions to rectify them quickly. Once they get back their mojo, this South Africa team can get back to their old competing, dominating self.