When Dewald Brevis’ name came under the hammer during the Indian T20 League 2022 mega auction, nobody really expected the teams to go all out for the South African teenager. The teenager did have a fantastic U-19 World Cup in the Caribbean, but his T20 credentials were still relatively unknown.
It’s even more baffling to acknowledge that by the time the teams were bidding, he had only played one T20 match; a CSA T20 Challenge 2022 encounter between Titans and Knights. The match saw the opening batter scoring a 25-ball 23 as his team emerged victorious 27 runs.
As it turns out though, the likes of Team Chennai and Team Mumbai had done their homework and it was the latter who managed to get him for INR 3 crore, representing a significant hike from his base price of INR 20 lakh.
A record-breaking U-19 World Cup
Brevis’ stocks skyrocketed during the 2022 U-19 World Cup in the Caribbean. The tournament saw the best of the South African opener who only finished as the top scorer, but also broke Shikhar Dhawan’s record of most runs in a single U-19 World Cup campaign, accumulating 506 runs in six matches at 84.33. This included two hundreds and three half-centuries.
While South Africa failed to win the title, Brevis showcased he means business right from the time he took the crease against India U-19. His only failure during the competition came against Sri Lanka where he could only muster six runs.
Dewald Brevis’ record in U-19 World Cup:
65 and 2/43 vs India
104 and 2/18 vs Uganda
96 and 0/13 vs Ireland
97 and 2/40 vs England
6 and 1/52 vs Sri Lanka
138 and 0/34 vs Bangladesh
Dewald Brevis is known as "Baby AB" in South Africa and last night when he completed his fifty against India U-19, his team-mates showed it from the dressing room. pic.twitter.com/6AhmST0AJB
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 16, 2022
Four consecutive fifty-plus runs scores earned him the nickname ‘Baby AB’ and it is something that he needs to justify in the Indian T20 League.
“Dewald Brevis is a player who’s on everyone’s lips. He’s AB de Villers 2.0,” his South Africa coach Shukri Conrad was quoted by the ICC.
A self-proclaimed Sachin Tendulkar fan
While a comparison with his countryman AB de Villiers couldn’t come as any surprise, the cricketer idolises none other than the Indian batting legend, Sachin Tendulkar.
Speaking in a video interview with his new Indian T20 League team, Team Mumbai, Brevis said one of the things that he wants to do is to remain humble like Tendulkar and de Villiers despite his rising fame.
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"The way he played was always an inspiration to me. My favourite innings of his is the ODI double-century, which happened to be against South Africa! I remember watching the match with my brother -- it was an amazing innings," Brevis said.
"I read his autobiography 'Playing it My Way' and there are a lot of things from there that I'd like to implement in my game. One thing I learnt from him is that you have to be humble because pride can be your downfall," he added.
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Featured photo: Twitter / Titans Cricket
