Dewald Brevis was roped in as an injury replacement for Gurjapneet Singh.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) endured a dismal IPL 2025 campaign, but South African batter Dewald Brevis’ signing was a silver lining for the franchise.
Brevis was roped in as an injury replacement for Gurjapneet Singh, who was originally bought for ₹2.2 crore. Though he joined the squad late, the Proteas youngster left a lasting impression on everyone by amassing 225 runs in just 6 matches at a strike rate of around 180.
Dewald Brevis had a breakout series at the international level in Australia this month. As a result, the 22-year-old is hogging the limelight again.
Recently, former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers clarified his earlier comments on Dewald Brevis, stating he never questioned the legality of his IPL entry. Instead, he emphasized that several franchises, including Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians, missed an opportunity by not investing in Brevis’ talent.
“I purely just wanted to say that a lot of teams missed out, and I think that was the message from me,” de Villiers said while speaking on his YouTube channel. “People, organisers of the IPL franchises, the owners, whoever, the scouts, I felt got it horribly wrong in that main auction, not picking him up. What a fantastic opportunity they had.”
“I think teams like RCB, obviously, he was at MI before, they decided to let go of him and not get him back. So, big loss I feel for a lot of teams, and he’s showing that now,” he added.
Reacting to the claims of CSK paying Brevis under the table to acquire his services as injury replacement. de Villiers was unequivocal. “I also tweeted about him being picked up at the IPL or not being picked up initially, and then getting into CSK’s team because of an injury. I thought maybe some people misunderstood my tweet. It had nothing to do with any technical or anything to do with the rules of the IPL.”
AB de Villiers urged Dewald Brevis to develop his pacing skills while acknowledging his impressive six-hitting ability.
“Understanding the change of gears… that’s the kind of player you want in your team,” he remarked.