On 23 May 2018, De Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket through a video uploaded to Twitter, in which he explained his decision. One of the statements in his monologue was "I have had my turn, and to be honest, I am tired." A few weeks after his announcement about retiring from international cricket, he clarified and said that he will continue playing T20 leagues for a few more years. During the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, and following South Africa losing their first three matches in the tournament, details emerged of De Villiers making himself available for selection for the national team squad on the day the squad was to be announced. He was not selected as he had not played any international cricket for his country leading up to the tournament, despite having been prompted to do so by South Africa's coach Ottis Gibson earlier in the year.