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aB de Villierscelebrated his newposition as captainof South africa’s oneday International (odI)team with a series winagainst Sri lanka. nowthe Sa cricketer, whocelebrated his 28thbirthday this month,is in new Zealandto secure successabroad for the firsttime. PIETER-loUISmyBURGH spoke tohim

ABRAHAM Benjamin (AB) deVilliers was born in Pretoria in1984 and matriculated at theAfrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in2002.

Apart from being being sin-gled out as a talented cricketplayer at an early age, DeVilliers also excelled at golf,

tennis and rugby (he playedat fly-half for his school’s re-vered first team).

De Villiers made his debutfor the national cricket teamin 2004 and became captainof South Africa’s ODI team,taking over from GraemeSmith, in 2012.

SA’s new ODI cricket captain

How does it feel to start yourtenure with a win?It is a great start although a 4-1win would have been even better.I thought we played good cricket.

I’m really proud of the way theboys applied themselves but Iknow this is only the beginning.It will get tougher so we’re defi-nitely keeping our feet on theground.

There are challenges to comebut plenty to look forward to.

What are you expecting fromthe Kiwis in your upcoming NewZealand tour?New Zealand is a tough and chal-lenging unit, especially when theyare at home. We expect them tocome out fighting.

We have a relatively new coachin Gary Kirsten and now you’rethe new ODI captain. That’s a lotof changes. What does this meanfor SA cricket?SA cricket is moving in an incredi-bly special direction. Not muchhas changed in terms of the play-ers but I think we can instil a freshmindset that can make us a domi-nating force in world cricket.

In what way is Gary different tothe other coaches you’ve workedwith in your career?Gary is a very calm coach and veryprocess-driven. It has been great

working with him. It makes a dif-ference because he has beenthrough what we are going throughas international cricketers and hehas given the players more respon-sibility and the freedom to expressthemselves.

Your team has tough tours toAustralia and England later thisyear. Are you confident you’ll dowell?This year is going to be a very chal-lenging and busy year for us. Themost important aspect for thesquad is to take it one game at atime, one tour at a time.

For now the challenge is NewZealand and we are preparing aswell as we can for that.

What do you aim to do differentlyas the new ODI captain?

I’d like to lead by example on andoff the field. I want us to sacrificewhatever needs to be sacrificedfor the team.

I believe a player learns and ma-tures a lot quicker and better if yougive him the wings to fly so I’mnot going to be scared to put someof the young guys under pressurein the big moments.

Moving forward, we’ll needmentally tough guys when thegame is on the line and that’s theonly way to prepare the boys forthose situations.

What is the biggest achievementyou’re hoping to secure?Our long-term goals include be-ing No 1 in the world in all formatsbut winning an ICC trophy or theWorld Cup is also high up on ourlist.

o captain, my captain

AB aimsto be abig hit

AB de Villiers, South Africa’s new ODI captain, has great aspirations for the Proteas.

A good support system is important to AB de Villiers, on and offthe pitch. He’s pictured here with his mother, Millie.

The media and the public can beincredibly hard on the Proteaswhen things aren’t going well.Does that bother you?We are focused on playing quali-ty cricket at all times.

There is not much we can doabout what is said on the “out-side”. All we can do is focus on ourown game.

How do you cope with the stressthat comes with your job?It’s definitely not an easy job butit’s a challenge that I’m loving. I’llhave to work on it and developwhere I can.

The most important thing willbe to learn from my mistakes andnot to put too much pressure onmyself. I have a lot of support bothon and off the field so that helpsa lot.

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