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AB: Winning the CWC will not define my career

Cape Town - Proteas batsman AB de Villiers has made no bones about his desire to win a Cricket World Cup with South Africa.

Such was his drive to get the coveted prize that he chose to skip most Tests in 2017 to focus solely on white-ball cricket in the lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

De Villers, 34, returned to play all three formats of the game in 2018 and had a successful Test series against Australia at home, where he scored four fifties and a century in South Africa's 3-1 victory.

It now seems the World Cup has moved down on his bucket list.

Speaking to the media on Monday, De Villiers said that winning the trophy was not his ultimate dream anymore.

"I'm taking it one game at a time," he said, as quoted by the ICC website.

"My ultimate dream is not to win a World Cup. I've changed my mindset. I feel it will be nice to win it, it'll be a bonus, but if I don't, it's not going to define my career.

"I've committed to all three formats last season and I loved every second of it. I'll take it one game at a time from here on."

De Villiers has been a part of three World Cup squads - 2007, 2011 and 2015 - but the closest he came to the trophy was in 2015 when he led South Africa to the semi-finals, only to go down by four wickets in a humdinger against New Zealand.

He was at the helm again during the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2017, where South Africa could not make it past the group stage.

De Villiers relinquished captaincy in August, handing over the reins to Faf du Plessis, who has since been leading the side in all three formats.

"I have known Faf for many years. He was captain of the primary school when I played with him," said De Villiers.

"He has always been a good leader and I see a lot of good years coming from Faf. He has already done fantastic things and I am seeing more to come."

Read full story on the ICC website

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