[WATCH] ‘Baby AB’ Dewald Brevis arrives at Mumbai Indians camp for IPL 2022

Young South African batter Dewald Brevis has arrived in Mumbai from Johannesburg to join the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season.

Brevis was purchased by MI for Rs 3 crore at the IPL auction in Bengaluru last month. He had a terrific U19 World Cup campaign in the West Indies, drawing comparisons with South African legend AB de Villiers.

Speaking after landing in Mumbai, the 18-year-old said in a video posted on the franchise’s official social media handles:

“It is so inspiring. I have seen all of this also on Instagram, waiting in the lounges everywhere. Now to see this (referring to MI’s IPL trophies). Now I can’t just wait to meet everyone and to play in front of you and to just be part of you. See you guys soon.”

The talented Proteas player hammered 506 runs in six games in the U19 World Cup earlier this year at an average of 84.33.

In the process, he broke Shikhar Dhawan’s record for most runs in a single edition of the U19 World Cup. The left-hander had amassed 505 runs in seven games in the 2004 edition of the competition in Bangladesh.

Apart from his runs, Brevis also chipped in with seven wickets at an average of 28.57 with his handy leg-spin, making him an overwhelming choice for the Player of the Tournament.

View the IPL 2022 News here.

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“The way he played was always an inspiration to me” - Dewald Brevis on Sachin Tendulkar

In an interview with mumbaiindians.com earlier this month, the 18-year-old had termed Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar as his inspiration. He added that he would like to emulate the former player, saying about the Master Blaster:

"The way he (Tendulkar) 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. 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."

Terming comparisons with De Villiers as an honour, Brevis added:

"It is important for me to have my own identity. I want to be known as Dewald Brevis. We went to the same school and played under the same coach, so when I first met him, I could not get a word out. There were many things I wanted to ask him, but I was star-struck.”

Dewald Brevis has so far featured in nine T20 games and has scored 207 runs at a strike rate of 125.45, with a best of 46*.