The only person who could bust the AB de Villiers myth has done it. The man himself confessed to what no-one wanted to hear: he is not really the superhuman he has been painted to be, at least not in personality terms.

"I am not a nice guy on the field. I want to win games, so I will do whatever it takes for us to win games," de Villiers said. "If I have to sledge, I will get involved like that. I will try and intimidate a player if I have to. I will try and get Virat off his game by talking about his technique and little flaws. I don't mind doing things like that, whatever it takes to win games."

In fact, de Villiers does not even like nice guys, not once they've crossed the white line anyway. "I have never really respected a guy that's been a nice guy on the field. I want the opposition to be hard and to play to win the game for their team," he said.

The eve of his 100th Test match is exactly the occasion to be so openly provocative. Milestones aside, South Africa are in a spot and de Villiers will have to be their Lady Macbeth, except of course, he actually has to get them off the damned spot and not just say it. It is evident that he can feel the weight of that responsibility. "I don't feel any pressure because it's my 100th Test, I feel pressure because we are 1-0 down and we want to get back into the series," de Villiers said. "I want to play my role in the team and get us into a position where we can get back in."

On the evidence of the first Test match, de Villiers is the only player who may be able to do that. He was the only South African batsman who managed a half-century on a surface that confounded batsmen on both sides. After a tricky time initially, de Villiers settled well and exhibited some of the shots he has so successfully mastered, including the sweep.

The ability to play such a wide range of shots and score runs all around the field is part of de Villiers' tactical plan to dominate opposition attacks. "I like to have energy at the crease. I like to be a threat for the opposition and for them to believe if I bat for a period of time that I am going to win the game for the team," he said. "That's why I play the game. I like to have an impact on us winning cricket games. I look at myself as a guy that wants to perform for the team and wants to do well."

"I read a part in a book where some of the All Black players said it's not about the individual, but it's about leaving the jersey in a better place for those who will come and represent the country after you."

Contributing to the collective is how de Villiers understands sport. After 99 Test and more than a decade as an international cricketer, what stands out for him is not his own performances but the way the team has done.

"My mind goes to series victories away from home," he said. "At home it's also special to play in front of your own crowd but people don't expect you to do well away from home. We've had a record of doing well away from home and it really shows the character and the resilience, not only as a cricket team but as a nation as well. I am proud to have been part of a Test cricket team touring all over the world and winning games of cricket. We are up against it India now and it is another of challenge for us and it will be another good story to come back from this."

Not only will be it a good story but it will a new one. South Africa have never come back from 1-0 down to win an away series, although they have managed to do that at home, thrice. If they do it this time in these conditions with this squad - a unit in transition hit by injuries to key players - they will prove what de Villiers has always wanted: that they are much stronger and much less nice than people think. It will also add a layer to the legacy South Africa are building, which is why de Villiers plays the game.

"I read a part in a book where some of the All Black players said it's not about the individual, but it's about leaving the jersey in a better place for those who will come and represent the country after you," he said. "We want to achieve things like this to motivate the generations to come and to dominate world cricket. That's ultimately the goal I think: to dominate world cricket."

There's no room for being nice guys while also trying to be No.1, but after stumps are drawn, there is some space for softness. "Off the field, I try to be a good human being and that goes a lot deeper. It's got nothing to do with cricket," de Villiers said. "I know my role in the side and that's to win games of cricket and a lot of times I don't have to be a nice guy to do that."