AB de Villiers
It's always been about the team; it's never been about myself.
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.
Obviously I want to be there at the end every time, winning games for the team.
I can't keep playing 10-11 months a year and keep being sharp after 15 years of international cricket.
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.
I have always wanted to play at the top of the order.
I know my game pretty well, and that is the secret to success in most sports.
I just try and earn my right to get on top of the bowlers, and that is how I play every game.
I try and keep my feet on the ground and keep working at my game.
It was a bit of a surprise when the national captaincy came my way.
I'm not the kind of guy who cares how many hundreds I've scored.
My personal goals have always and will always take a backseat to the team.
I had a long run as a captain. I had some fantastic ups and also quite a few lows in between.
From a personal standpoint, my ability to play all around the wicket is more mindset than anything else.
Captaining South Africa was definitely not one of my goals.
As a captain, I can't make the same mistake twice. As a player, you can get away with that, but if the captain does that, then it affects the whole team.
My mindset in all three formats, in any situation, is exactly the same. I just want to get myself in, get myself a nice foundation to hopefully attack and dominate the bowlers.
Test cricket is the ultimate challenge.
I truly believe that players who tell you they don't feel the pressure of international cricket, of being away from home for months at a time, are lying to everyone and themselves.
If you pick up that information, the first metre or two, the ball coming out of the hand, you can analyse what's coming.
I do enjoy fielding.
It's tough at slip. The ball doesn't come to you very often. So from that perspective, I enjoy keeping more - you're in the game the whole time.
It's never been about my own runs. If I can score as many as possible to get us into a position to win, then I'll be a very happy man.
I don't really like attention too much.
I know nothing will compare to that feeling of scoring hundreds in a big game.
I've always been a people pleaser.
The most important people to please are your family.
Playing at the highest level alongside your friends, scoring runs for your country are things that I look back and go, 'Ah, I miss that a little bit,' but there's a lot I don't miss. I don't miss 90 per cent of it.
I don't overthink things.
I know Test cricket is more about endurance. T20 is more about innovating, creating, and the energy at the wicket.
I have played incredible knocks with the lightest of bats.
I think I have a natural hitting ability.
It's not really part of the game to say, 'Oh, it's a batter's game; it's a batter's game' - I don't know why it goes on. It's a beautiful game that's greatly competitive between bat and ball.
You represent your country - that's the biggest honour ever. I had the privilege of doing that for more than 14 years.
Every wicket you play on is different.
Nothing comes close to the IPL, to be honest.
In all kinds of sports, you have to get the confidence going within before you can start proving people wrong or right.
I truly love captaining. I've grown into enjoying it.
We all grow up dreaming of playing international cricket.
It's important to make sure your players have the mindset that playing international cricket is still the ultimate form of cricket.
If you don't learn, especially if you are not playing well, then you are not going to move forward as a team.
Obviously, international cricket is the main cricket you want to play, especially Test cricket.
It's a huge honour to play my 100th Test, and I never in my life thought I'll be in this kind of position.
I'll do whatever it takes for us to win games of cricket. If I have to sledge, I'll get involved like that. I'll try and intimidate a player if I have to.
I'm not a nice guy on the field, and I've never really respected a guy who's been a 'nice guy' on the field. I want opposition to be hard, to play to win the game for their team.
For my part, I am not a great believer in bad luck on the cricket field, in business - in fact, in any walk of life.
An IPL match may be decided when the ball passes inches beyond the grasp of a fielder on the boundary or when a direct hit catches a batsman inches short of the crease.
Even the thunderous master-blasters, like Andre Russell and MS Dhoni, men who now make scoring more than 20 runs per over look simple, often thrive on the right side of an incredibly slender gap between six and out. They are not more lucky than anyone else. They are more brilliant.
No matter how hot the fire burns, a Protea always survivesCollection: Fire