South Africa cricket team captain AB De Villiers has claimed that being told not to return home as 'losers' by their country's sports minister merely reflects the passionate desire of all the people in their nation for a maiden Cricket World Cup triumph.
South Africa's Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula created a stir earlier this week when he said at the team's official departure that they did not want them to be at the World Cup to add numbers and just become a bunch of losers.
De Villiers said that their country of South Africa expects a lot from their sports people, and added that they are expected to come there and win the tournament, Sport24 reported.
The skipper claimed that they understand that, and obviously there's pressure that comes with comments like that, but added that they don't mind that, insisting that they are there to win.
De Villiers said that they all understand the kind of pressure that's on them and they want to take the trophy back home.
The pressure on South Africa has grown with each global showpiece since their first in 1992 and their failure to land a title has earned them the tag of 'chokers', the report added.