Dewald Brevis

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dewald Brevis

• Dewald Brevis, popularly known as Baby AB, is a South African cricketer, who is known for his resemblance with the popular South African cricketer, AB de Villiers.

• In an interview, Dewald revealed that he has been passionate about cricket since he was a toddler. He said that he started playing cricket in his backyard with his elder brother and his father. ^[2]ICC In an interview, Brevis disclosed that his elder brother also aimed to be a cricketer. He said,
  

  As a youngster, me and my brother always played backyard cricket, he had such a big ambition also for the game, there was lots of passion, lots of laughter, lots of tears.”

• Brevis has always been a fan of AB de Villiers. He resembles him in terms of looks as well as in terms of gameplay and stance. In an interview, Brevis revealed,
  

  AB de Villiers has always been one of my role-models; from a young age, growing up, I [used to] watch him play,”

  

• In April 2021, he was approached by the Northerns before the 2021–22 domestic cricket season in South Africa.

• On 8 October 2021, he made his Twenty20 debut for the South Africa Under-19s in the 2021–22 CSA Provincial T20 Knock-Out tournament. He racked up 46 runs, which includes two fours and four sixes from 25 balls with a strike rate of 184.

• In November 2021, he was signed for South Africa’s team for the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. He showcased stellar performance throughout the tournament which includes a massive 138 against Bangladesh, 104 against Uganda, 97 against England, 96 against Ireland, and 65 against India. He scored a total of 506 runs in six innings and took seven wickets throughout the tournament. Although his team could not make it past the quarterfinals, he was named the Player of the Tournament. ^[3]ICC

• In February 2022, he represented the Titans Cubs at the CSA Cubs Week. He played with an average of 46.50 and scored 0, 25, 41*, 58, and 62.

• Nine days after Brevis’ last Under 19 Worldcup innings, the Indian Premier League (IPL) player’s auction started. He had a base price of Rs. 20 lakhs but was bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 3 crore.

  

• In an interview, Brevis expressed his desire to play for RCB. He said,
  

  For me, the biggest dream is to play for the Proteas and then I am such a big fan of the IPL, I would love to play for RCB because AB (de Villiers) and (Virat) Kohli are there,”

  Although RCB was in search of a replacement for AB de Villiers upon his retirement, it did not even bid for Brevis during the IPL auction.

• Brevis had the experience of only 8 T20 matches in his career before IPL and had 204 runs and 5 wickets to his name.

• He was not made a part of the playing eleven in the first two matches of Mumbai Indians.

• He made his IPL debut against Kolkata Knight Riders on 6 April 2022 in Pune and scored 29 runs off 19 balls.

• In a match against RCB, he took Virat Kohli’s wicket on his first delivery of IPL.

• In a match against Punjab Kings, he slammed 49 runs off 25 balls. He hit a four before four consecutive sixes making a total of 29 runs in an over delivered by legspinner, Rahul Chahar, which turned out to become Chahar’s most expensive over of his career’s 170 overs. As of April 2022, he maintained a strike rate of 155 in IPL 2022.

• AB de Villiers once visited Brevis’ school, which has names like De Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Rudolph, Heino Kuhn, Neil Wagner, and Kruger van Wyk in its list of Alumni. ^[4]Dainik Bhaskar ABD shared his experiences and anecdotes with the students including Brevis, who were listening to him intently. When it was time for AB de Villiers to bid goodbye to the students, Brevis asked him for his contact number. ABD gave him his contact details and also decided to personally coach him and teach him the tips and tricks of cricket. The duo started having net sessions together.

• Reportedly, AB even used to go to Brevis’ house for helping him to practice. Gradually, de Villiers transitioned from being his idol to his mentor.

• In an interview, Brevis expressed,
  

  I always wore my AB de Villiers shirt that my mother made for me. [I just love] the way he plays. He has a great mindset and he likes to entertain people. From a young age I was the same – I also wanted to entertain and put up a big show whenever I batted.”

  He added,

  AB is someone I look up to and if I can play only 10 per cent like him I’ll be happy. I’d love that.”

• Inspired by his idol, Brevis’ chose the number ‘17’ for his SA U19 world cup jersey as De Villiers sported number 17 for his ODI debut for the Proteas back in 2005. ^[5]Cricket Fanatics Magazine

  

• In an interview, he revealed,
  

  I met AB for the first time at Affies and we sort of had a relationship since then. I asked him then if I could play with the no.17 [shirt] and he said ‘sure, play with it. That’s perfect”

• According to Brevis’ agent, Weber van Wyk, his dream is to play for Proteas. In an interview, he said,
  

  His dream is to play for the Proteas and playing in South Africa is very important to him.”

• Brevis has been made the subject of a non-fungible token (NFT), which is a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger, that can be sold and traded. His NFT, which was sold 16 times from 9 March 2022 to 19 April 2022 for USD200 to USD444, is a video clip of him launching England’s Tom Prest over long-on for six during the under-19 World Cup quarter-final in Antigua.

• In an interview, Brevis revealed that his mother always believed in him and his ability to become a successful cricketer. He said,
  

  My mum always told me to believe that I was going to do something in sports, and cricket is what I want to do, that’s what keeps me driven.”