Behind Dewald Brevis' Record-Breaking SA20 Auction, More Than Just 'CSK Factor'

South Africa has found a new world beater in T20 cricket in the form of Dewald Brevis. The young middle-order batter, who shaped his game around the country's all-time great, AB de Villiers, is on cloud nine after becoming the most-expensive buy in SA20 auction history. The middle-order batter was purchased for Rand 16,500,000 (Rs 8.31 crore) by Pretoria Capitals, a franchise coached by India great Sourav Ganguly. However, things might not have been the same had he not been picked as an injury-replacement player by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the middle of the 2025 season.

Answering a query from NDTV in a media conference, set up by SA20, South Africa great Allan Donald explained the work Dewald Brevis put into his game over the last year or so in order to stand at the top of the T20 cricketing spectrum in the country.

For Donald, it wasn't just the 'CSK factor' that made Brevis the top buy in SA20 history but also the work he put into his game by going back to the basics.

Question: I wanted to understand your perspective on Dewald Brevis. He went unsold in the IPL auction last year, then joined CSK as an injury replacement player. And now he's the top in the SA20 auction. What do you make of his rise?

Also, do you think he would have fetched that sort of money if he had not done what he did for CSK as an injury replacement player?

Allan Donald: "The best thing that could ever have happened to Dewald Brevis is to play domestic cricket for almost two years. If you take where Dewald Brevis started and how he leapfrogged everything, like from school, it was straight into the Mumbai Indians and various leagues around the world. He struggled.

"He battled. Didn't do that all that well. All of a sudden, he's released from the Mumbai Indians, comes back all the way to domestic cricket, where he found himself.

"And his last year was difficult to bowl to anybody in South African domestic cricket. So he had to go back there. He had to go back and find his game and understand what he's about as a person.

"The talent was overwhelming. Baby AB was born. And all of a sudden, that pressure and expectation may have just gotten the better of him.

"He came back to domestic cricket, he found his mates, and just grew. He gets a break from CSK, goes over there, and just lit the world up. And timing is, like I said, timing is everything. I think he's just going to fly now. I'm so pleased with Dewald where he is currently. He deserves it."

Topics mentioned in this article

Chennai Super Kings Dewald Brevis Allan Donald Cricket