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Southampton - South Africa only have 13 fit players to choose from for Wednesday's must-win clash against India at the Rose Bowl, but they still find themselves with much to consider in terms of team selection.
Dale Steyn and Lungi Ngidi are the two players unavailable - Steyn has been ruled out of the squad while Ngidi is expected to miss two games - which obviously means the Proteas go in with a serious shortage of fast bowlers.
With Steyn's replacement, Beuran Hendricks, only arriving in England on Monday morning, the logical selection is for Dwaine Pretorius to come back into the side for Ngidi.
That would see a 'pace' attack of Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo and Pretorius fielded: hardly a combination that would strike fear into the Indian batsmen.
The other option would be to field two spinners, with Tabraiz Shamsi earning a first cap of the tournament.
The first issue there is that, in India, the Proteas are up against an opposition that is better equipped than anybody in combating turn, while the second issue is that the South Africans are expecting a flat wicket once more.
"There are not a lot of options in terms of the bowling attack," Du Plessis acknowledged on Tuesday.
"I don't think the spinners have played a big role here, but Shamsi is still an attacking bowler for us and it is an option"
Morris will almost certainly be backed given South Africa's need for raw pace, so Pretorius v Shamsi looks to be the headache in the bowling department.
The return of Hashim Amla after a head injury against England, meanwhile, creates an interesting selection issue amongst the batsmen.
Amla played the tournament opener against England with David Miller, who came in against Bangladesh, left out.
Now that Amla is fit again, the Proteas must decide who, if anyone, makes way.
Aiden Markram is one option at the top of the order, but he is returning to the ground of his success in a recently-completed English county stint with Hampshire and that could make him an attractive option.
Markram, like JP Duminy, also offers a few overs with the ball, which could be important given the shortage in that department.
Rassie van der Dussen has looked South Africa's best middle-order batsman for a while now and will be retained, meaning that an Amla return would see one of Markram, Duminy or Miller dropped.
Play on Wednesday starts at 11:30 (SA time).
@LloydBurnard is in England covering the 2019 Cricket World Cup for Sport24 ...
The good news is that Hashim Amla is having a bat. Signs are that he has recovered from his head knock, but confirmation will come this afternoon @Sport24news @News24 pic.twitter.com/Xu1mniKr1B
— Lloyd Burnard (@LloydBurnard) June 4, 2019
