De Villiers said he wanted to focus on the 2019 World Cup ahead of everything else at present. (AFP)
2/6
He had earlier told South African radio station 702 that he was not retiring out of Test cricket. (AP)
3/6
I am going to have to make certain choices. It's not easy for me. I have always been the go-ahead guy, the team man, never want to miss a game for South Africa and I still do, but the schedules these days, it's really tough to play all formats. (AFP)
4/6
Fuelling talk that he might call it a day in Test cricket, South African star batsman AB de Villiers pulled out of the upcoming series in New Zealand in March. (AFP)
5/6
De Villiers said, The reason being that I just need to settle things in my head. Over the last few years something has come to mind, which is the fact that we haven't won a World Cup yet. And for me to make it to the 2019 World Cup, I can't really be serious in every format. (BCCI)
6/6
So I've made myself unavailable for the New Zealand Test series. I will be there for the ODIs, and I'm definitely not retiring from Test cricket because I have plans to come back at some stage. (AFP)