Exciting times for fresh faces - Amla

Hashim Amla's previously well-hidden sense of mischief has been coaxed out of its shell since he took over the captaincy and it seems no-one, not even a player on the brink of the biggest day of his career to date, can escape it.

"Temba [Bavuma] has been in the squad so it's fitting that he should play if someone new is to play. And it's exciting. In the last game we had Stiaan and he scored a 100 on debut so it would be great if Temba could get a 100 on debut as well," Amla said, laughing. "No pressure."

Bavuma will know that like Dean Elgar, who copped a pair in Perth in his first match and Rilee Rossouw, who started his ODI run with two ducks and collected another two after his first six matches, if it all goes wrong for him initially, he will have a few other chances to put it right. Such is the security of the South African team at the moment that they can embrace change, nor fear it.

"From the time I took over, I knew this team would go through a phase of transition and this is a new look team in many ways," Amla said. "It's an exciting time but also a challenging time. The exciting thing is that guys are getting more opportunities and there are fresh faces in the team. With that comes a lot of energy and a lot of desire on their part. The challenging part is that when you have younger guys, you can't expect them to perform like the guys who have gone before have performed, not immediately, anyway."

Under Amla, South Africa have had two new Test caps - Dane Piedt and Stiaan van Zyl - from four matches and both exceeded expectations. The possibility of a third debutant lurks in Bavuma and Amla believes he will have the same safety net the other pair had to settle in.

"If you interview those guys, they would probably say they had a very pleasant experience coming in," Amla said. "For any new guy, you want to get the feeling you are accepted in the environment regardless of whether you score runs or not. That releases the pressure and you go out into the field knowing you can just express yourself and play your game."

The freedom to do that comes because South Africa have stability from other sources. "Fortunately, the bowling attack has pretty much remained the same for the last three years so they are a solid unit. Batting, we need to find a rhythm but myself, AB, Faf and JP, when he comes back, go about work and give the other guys time to find their feet," Amla said. "The team revolves around the senior guys. It goes without saying that the guys who have been in team longer shoulder the bulk of the responsibility."

Team culture has been the buzzword of South African cricket, especially in the lead-up to the World Cup, and Amla who has been in the set-up for a decade believes it is only getting more enjoyable. "The environment has always been good but it has gotten better.The team environment has been on an upward curve since around 2009 or 2010," Amla said. "Each coach that has come in has added great value in getting the culture in a good space and we can only get better."

While the spotlight zoned in on South Africa, there was little talk of West Indies in the lead-up to the second Test at Amla's media engagement and a growing sense that the opposition are not being taken seriously in this series. Amla dismissed that and stressed South Africa have given as much time to their tactics as they have to their own team.

"You guys haven't asked questions but we have within our team," he said. "As long as we prepare for this Test match like any other, we know what to expect. We know that after we lost against Australia in Centurion, we came back strongly here so what prevents other teams from doing the same thing? Any team that loses will go back and reflect and will want to put things right." No pressure then, West Indies.