Domingo's chance to upstage perennial predecessor Arthur
When South Africa meet Pakistan in their second group match of the Champions Trophy, it will not just be a tale of two teams clashing, but two coaches too.
South Africa's - Russell Domingo - was second-in-command in 2013 and on the verge of taking over the main job. Pakistan's man Mickey Arthur was in charge of Australia and on the eve of an Ashes series he never made it through. The pair were on contrasting journeys then, after years of Domingo walking in Arthur's shoes and always going one step further.
In 2003, Arthur coached Eastern Province shortly before South Africa migrated from a provincial to a franchise system and, in his last two seasons there, oversaw their progression to the final of the domestic T20 competition. Domingo succeeded Arthur when the latter took over the national side in 2005.
By then, Eastern Province and Border had amalgamated to form the Warriors and in Domingo's fifth-season with them, they won both the one-day cup and the T20 trophy. To date, that remains the only silverware in the Warriors cabinet.
While Arthur enjoyed great success at Test level with South Africa - it was under him that they won their first series since readmission in both England and Australia - major tournament glory eluded him. In fact, it was during Arthur's tenure that South Africa suffered some of their more noteworthy defeats. At the 2007 World Cup, they crumbled in the semi-final
and then they endured heartbreak at both the 2009 World T20 and the Champions Trophy, which South Africa hosted.
Arthur never got the chance to take South Africa to the 2010 World T20 after an acrimonious split with administrators. Instead, Corrie van Zyl presided over that event and the 2011 World Cup before Gary Kirsten was appointed, with Domingo as his assistant. Kirsten endorsed Domingo as his successor when he stepped down after the Champions Trophy, having failed to break South Africa's major tournament drought.
Of all South Africa's coaches, Domingo is the only one to win a major tournament knockout game post-1998. Though he too could not claim a cup, there is a lot of belief from the suits that he will be the man to change South Africa's fortunes - be it now or at the 2019 World Cup - even the South African players believe he will be the man to see them to glory.
"Yes, definitely," was the answer AB de Villiers gave when he was asked whether he would like Domingo to stay on as South Africa's coach after the ongoing tour of England, which is when his contract expires.
De Villiers played under both Arthur and Domingo, at opposite ends of his career and while he could not elaborate on the ways Arthur offered guidance, he was glowing in his praise of Domingo.
"They are completely different. Obviously different human beings. Both very nice guys, really good men and I get along with both of them," de Villiers said. "Mickey was such a long time ago. I can't remember his coaching style really. We had a lot of success under him, and I have good memories of him as coach with us. But that's long gone. It's something in the past. We're with a great coach at the moment who is really leading the side well. We all get along with him and we all love him as our coach."
While de Villiers was praising Domingo, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed's relationship with Arthur is rather more complicated. The pair did not seem to see eye to eye on certain issues - most notably Arthur's comments on his unhappiness that Mohammad Hafeez wasn't asked to bowl. Some former players have been even more direct, with Mohammad Yousuf calling for Arthur's head after the loss to India. Although that was a knee-jerk reaction to one match, it's not too difficult to see how the bigger picture might support that.
Arthur's results do not cover him in glory, especially when he puts it like this: "If you have a look at our records over the last year we've won two series. We've got ourselves from No. 9 to No. 8 in the rankings." Not exactly awe-inspiring.
In that time, Pakistan have also lost two Test series (the same number as they have won) and two ODI rubbers. Add to that the recent retirements of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan and there are not that many reasons to be optimistic about the immediate future of Pakistan. And immediate could be as immediate as tomorrow.
Pakistan need to beat South Africa to stay in the tournament. Another defeat - especially a heavy one - will crank up the pressure on a coach already under significant scrutiny, even if he is not in danger of losing his job. Well, not yet, anyway.
At the other end, South Africa may not need to beat Pakistan to progress but it will make their chances much easier. Domingo, on the other hand, might need South Africa to beat not just Pakistan, but everyone else in this tournament if he is to keep his job. As yet, the exact process Domingo will have to go through if he hopes to continue in the job is not known, but it would seem obvious that a Champions Trophy in his hand could seal the deal.