Dewald Brevis has established himself as one of the top young batters to keep an eye on in the early part of his career. An international breakout series came when South Africa visited Australia this month, putting the world on notice regarding just how talented the Protean power-hitter is. AB de Villiers once again took to his YouTube channel to talk about South Africa’s budding star, but this time had to clarify some earlier comments he made regarding the youngster on X.
“I purely just wanted to say that a lot of teams missed out, and I think that was the message from me,” said de Villiers 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.”
De Villiers named his former team, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Brevis’s former team, the Mumbai Indians, as two which made a mistake in letting Brevis join the Chennai Super Kings: his form in 2025 and how he has come along internationally stood out for de Villiers.
“I think teams like RCB, obviously, he was at MI before, they decided to let go of him and not get him back,” said Brevis. “So, big loss I feel for a lot of teams, and he’s showing that now. My tweet was all about, sort of, just showing how capable this guy is, how talented he is.”
De Villiers thinks Brevis' cricket education still unfinished
De Villiers also clarified that he wasn’t implying any wrongdoing after CSK got into some trouble regarding Brevis’ signing-on: “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,” said de Villiers, quickly covering his bases.
{{/usCountry}}De Villiers also clarified that he wasn’t implying any wrongdoing after CSK got into some trouble regarding Brevis’ signing-on: “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,” said de Villiers, quickly covering his bases.
{{/usCountry}}Brevis has exploded while South Africa has visited Australia for a white-ball series this month, with his ability to fearlessly hit big sixes against any type of bowling earning him plenty of plaudits. However, de Villiers did have some advice for his countryman, known as ‘Baby AB’, in terms of structuring his innings to ensure all his starts were converted into big scores.
“Understanding the change of gears and when to take the foot off the pedal a little bit. But obviously, a natural ball striker. He strikes fear into all bowling attacks, and that’s the kind of player you want in your team,” said de Villiers regarding Brevis.