De Villiers: Not sure we are favourites for World Cup

South Africa skipper AB de Villiers is reluctant to talk up South Africa's chances ahead of the World Cup beginning on February 14. South Africa have lost in the semi-finals of the 1992, 1999 and 2007 editions of the World Cup and de Villiers said he is not sure whether his team deserves the title of favourites. "We've been the favourites before in the tournament. It didn't work out for us. I'm not really sure if (favourite) is a title that deserves a lot of time and a lot of talking about, but look, obviously Australia are the number one side in the world at the moment in ODIs," de Villiers said. Before the squad left for Australia, sports minister Fikile Mbalula gave a farewell message to the team and said the team should not become "a bunch of losers." The South African skipper said they did not mind these kind of comments. "We understand the kind of pressure that's on us, and we want to take the trophy back home," he stated. South Africa have had a wonderful ODI record in the past year, having won ODI series against India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and beating Australia in the final of the tri-series. The only blip for them was a 1-4 series loss to Australia. De Villiers is proud of what the team has achieved. "We enjoy being one of the best teams in the world. We've beaten the Aussies not too long ago in Zimbabwe, so to have that kind of confidence that we can be the best team in the world, and at the tournament we've got the opportunity to prove it, gives us a great opportunity," he said. When asked about how the team has exited the World Cup in bizarre circumstances on a regular basis, he said, "It's just another tournament. It's an important tournament, but it's just another tournament. That's probably the biggest lesson that I've learnt. We also feel comfortable knowing that if we play good cricket, and if we dominate the games that we should dominate, then we've got a very good chance to make it to the quarter-finals." South Africa are in Pool B along with Pakistan, India, West Indies, Zimbabwe, UAE and Ireland. Before the World Cup, they will take on Sri Lanka and New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in two warm-up games on February 09 and 11 respectively. They will open their World Cup campaign against Zimbabwe on February 15 at Seddon Park in Hamilton.