Captaining South Africa was definitely not one of my goals.
— AB de Villiers
The World Cup is a tough tournament.
My personal goals have always and will always take a backseat to the team.
For some guys, playing for the team will mean achieving more personally.
I know my game pretty well, and that is the secret to success in most sports.
You live for those pressure moments. Through an international career, you have ups and downs, but you always feel you are going to be tested in moments like that. It has taken me years to feel comfortable and to feel like I have good composure in those situations.
There's a lot of reasons I had to move on. Family's definitely a big part of it. And the longevity of my career - I played for 15 years, and I was just tired of the whole international scene. It's quite busy. Very stressful.
It will never be much fun until a Proteas team finally goes out and wins one of these ICC limited-overs tournaments. That will happen one day.
To cross the line for the team, to have an impact on winning the game - that's why I play this game.
I accept that it is not always moonshine and roses, and you can't expect things must always go your way.
I will continue to be the biggest supporter of Faf du Plessis and the Proteas.
I love keeping. I'm in the game all the time. I see angles that I wouldn't normally see, and I feel part of what the captain does.
I'm a bit undercooked when it comes to keeping in Test cricket, but I've had a lot of experience in T20 and ODIs for my country, and my keeping has improved a lot.
I believe all teams choke in certain situations.
Sometimes you don't quite realise what you have achieved until you look back.
The fear of failing... not quite the fear of failing, but the uncertainty of whether you are going to perform or not, is there every single game I have played in my life. It will always be there.
I like to entertain the crowd. Personally I like to entertain my team-mates first, but when the crowd gets going, it is amazing.
I was brought up to always see the glass half full instead of half empty and played my cricket that way.
Money wasn't the motivating factor in calling time on my international career and focusing on T20 cricket. If I was here to make as much money as I can, I would be playing 10 to 12 tournaments a year.
I'm not the kind of guy who cares how many hundreds I've scored.
I try and keep my feet on the ground and keep working at my game.
I have always wanted to play at the top of the order.
I can't keep playing 10-11 months a year and keep being sharp after 15 years of international cricket.
It's always been about the team; it's never been about myself.
Winning an official World Cup with the South African team had become my burning ambition.
I don't care about hundreds, fifties, averages.
I will always be grateful to the coaches and staff of Cricket South Africa for their support through all these years.
After 114 Test matches, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20 Internationals, it is time for others to take over. I have had my turn, and to be honest, I am tired.
When I'm fielding at point, I'm running all over that field, and I'm really tired by the end of the innings.
The interests of the team must always outweigh the interests of any individual, including me.
The main lesson I learned from 2015 is that a World Cup doesn't define a player's career.
There are big tournaments going on around the world, and some of them you cannot ignore because, financially, they make a huge difference in our lives.
There are lots of mentally very tough players that I have played against and with.
From a personal standpoint, my ability to play all around the wicket is more mindset than anything else.
I had a long run as a captain. I had some fantastic ups and also quite a few lows in between.
It was a bit of a surprise when the national captaincy came my way.
I just try and earn my right to get on top of the bowlers, and that is how I play every game.
I feel I handle the pressure situations well, and that's why I want to be there at the end.
Obviously I want to be there at the end every time, winning games for the team.
For me, in green and gold, it must be everything or nothing.
I am fully aware that cricket is like a second religion in Pakistan.
I try and watch the ball closely. I've played the game for many years now, and I know my talent will take over if I just watch the ball and enjoy myself out there.
It would not be right for me to pick and choose where, when, and in what format I play for the Proteas.
If I play all the IPL games the whole season, I do get a bit tired towards the end.
I rest a bit more when I keep. The only thing I have to look after is my back and using different muscle groups.
We want to swing the ball as much as we can. We try and get it to reverse, putting more sweat on one side and things like that. But we don't cheat.
Wrong is wrong. Guys try to find a way to get the ball to reverse, but you have to stay in the laws.
It's important on any English wicket to leave well.
I believe I am strong mentally. My breaking points might be bigger than most players. I think it's because of the way I grew up with my two older brothers. They pushed my limits quite often - once every day, I think! I think that played a big role in my breaking point being bigger than most players. Not all players.
