While Mumbai Indians' batting is hobbling in IPL 2025, the youngster is lighting up domestic cricket with his batting
Before people started vouching for players based on social media hype to find the next big sporting talent, they had to wait. The player had to come through the youth ranks, play in the Under-19 World Cup, keep piling on runs in the domestic circuit, and then work for a few years to settle down in international cricket. What the player had done at youth cricket or how good they were in domestic cricket were topics reserved for national selectors, their peers and coaches.
But the advent of social media has fast-tracked the belief system while players are in their teens. Mushrooming T20 leagues around the world controlled by the oligarchical powers buy into this hype as fast as they get bored of it, much like an average joe who slings mud at the same person whom he had deemed ‘G.O.A.T’ a week ago.
Dewald Brevis has been one such young talent who has been put on the conveyor belt of highlight reels, curated cards, and given the epidermal tag of ‘Baby AB’. Once the 2022 Under-19 World Cup was over, Mumbai Indians snapped him up for INR 3 crore and got him his debut in their third match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
Brevis instantly lived up to the hype, walloping veterans like Pat Cummins and Umesh Yadav for easy sixes and effortlessly striking the ball on a pitch favouring the bowlers. Two games later, his 25-ball 49 against Punjab Kings amplified the noise. His seven-match stint got him 161 runs at a strike rate of 142 and a hope that he will return to India for an even better season.
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He did, as one of the big-name retentions for IPL 2023, as franchises were allowed to keep the majority of their squad due to the league expansion to 10 teams the year prior. But there was no XI Brevis would fit into.
He would go on to ply his trade in the Major League Cricket in the United States and then in South Africa’s own flagship tournament, SA20, for MI New York and MI Cape Town – both affiliate teams of Mumbai Indians. By the time IPL 2024 came, Brevis made his South Africa debut, played two T20Is and was left out of the 2023 ODI World Cup squad.
As Mumbai Indians’ fans yearned to see more of their young talent after the rough hand he was dealt by the national team, he got only three games in IPL 2024. He averaged 23 – the same as IPL 2022 – but the return was 69 runs at a strike rate of 117.
By the time the third season of SA20 returned, the Brevis hype train had left for many. But in reality, it was the best thing to happen to the youngster. It was the actual unshackling of the Dewald Brevis, who had wowed people in the Caribbean at the youth level.
He played 12 matches for MI Cape Town in 2024-25, two more than his last two seasons for the franchise. He averaged a whopping 48, double his averages of 26 and 18 in SA20 2023 and 2024, respectively. His blistering 18-ball 38 in the final and tournament total of 219 runs ended Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s stranglehold on the SA20 trophy.
While one section of the internet woke up to take notice of his exploits, others existed in a blissful bubble of ignorance. Even since that victory with MI Cape Town, there’s barely been an attack that could contain Brevis. In the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge Division One, South Africa’s premier List-A tournament, Brevis recorded scores of 3, 102, 42, 75, 57, 83 not out, and 36. His team Titans, reached the playoffs. Brevis finished as the second-highest run-getter with 398 runs from seven innings at a superb average of 66.33.
In the ongoing CSA 4-Day Series Division, South Africa’s First-Class competition, Brevis has played 10 innings. He has two hundreds and two fifties to his name. Since the tournament resumption in late March, he has made scores 99 and 148 from five innings for the Titans. He is fourth on the run-scorers list with 547 runs at a strike rate of 88 in the red-ball competition.
Mumbai Indians chose not to call him up as an injury replacement at multiple points before IPL 2025. However, they have floundered as a batting unit. Their opening combinations with Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, and Ryan Rickleton have failed. The middle-order has sputtered to a halt in key moments.
When MI claimed the IPL throne five times, they had a strong spine of talents such as Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, the Pandya brothers, Jasprit Bumrah, and the calm head of captain Rohit Sharma. By putting Brevis in the ‘later’ category, they might have missed an opportunity to secure their middle-order’s future. But for Brevis and South Africa, the 2024-25 season is proving to be the perfect time to make hay.
The Titans are preparing for the final against the Lions, beginning this Thursday. Brevis has the opportunity to lay his hands on a second title this season. For Mumbai Indians, the chances for redemption after a bottom-placed finish last season seem to dim with every match.
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