Dewald Brevis is one of the hottest young prospects in the world right now after having lit up the recently-held U19 World Cup. Several teams were interested in acquiring his services at the IPL 2022 mega auction but in the end, Mumbai Indians outfoxed the rest with their bid of INR 3 crore.
South African batter Dewald Brevis has become a teen sensation following his mercurial displays at the recently held T20 World Cup. The 18-year-old’s batting style, temperament, ability and stroke-making captured the attention of the entire world and it even drew uncanny resemblance with South African batting legend AB De Villiers.
In fact, even before the World Cup, parallels between Brevis and De Villiers were quite common in the South African cricket circuit. The youngster was even called ‘Baby AB’ in the country and the title became extremely popular during the World Cup where he finished as top-scorer.
In six matches, Dewald Brevis had scored 506 runs at a spectacular average of 84.33 and at a tremendous strike rate of 90.20. He finished 126 runs ahead of the player in second position. Brevis was also one of three players to slam two centuries in the competition and only one of two to smack three half-centuries. He also hit the most fours (45) and most sixes (18) in the competition.
Therefore, it was unsurprising to see teams being involved in a frantic bidding war for the South African teen sensation. Mumbai Indians won the battle with their bid of INR 3 crore for Dewald Brevis who has expressed his fondness and admiration for the franchise.
‘Baby AB’ mentioned that he has watched the Netflix documentary ‘Cricket Fever’ which covers Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2019 journey and he believes that the team feels like one big family which he can’t wait to be a part of.
“MI has always been one of my favourite teams. We were in isolation before the U19 World Cup and I watched the Netflix documentary ‘Cricket Fever’. I can sense that familiar feeling and how the players are one big family,”
Brevis said while speaking to Mumbai Indian’s official website.
The right-handed batter also seems to be in awe of his captain Rohit Sharma and described him as one of the most charismatic batters who can take on any bowling attack in the world. He also spoke highly of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer and can’t wait to join his teammates in the IPL.
“I would love to share the dressing room with Rohit Sharma. He is a wonderful batter, smokes the bowlers and I have seen him rise through the ranks over the years.
I am grateful that both Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah are on the team. I think it will be tougher to face Bumrah, I have seen him bowl live at Supersport Park (in Centurion) for India against South Africa and it is surreal that I will be facing him in the nets soon,”
he added.
