Young Mumbai Indians batter Dewald Brevis revealed that former South Africa captain and flamboyant batter AB de Villiers had been teaching him small things which have been helping him a lot. Brevis, who made 29 in his IPL debut against Kolkata Knight Riders, wowed everyone with a 25-ball 49 despite Mumbai losing to Punjab Kings at Pune.
Many in the cricketing circle have called Brevis ‘Baby AB’ due to resemblances in the batting styles of the youngster and de Villiers, who made a mark for himself in the IPL with his 360-degree game for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Brevis was picked by Mumbai after being the leading run-getter in the Men’s U19 World Cup with 506 runs in six matches at an average of 84.33, including two centuries and three fifties.
“He’s played a big role, it’s a special relationship. He teaches me small things that help me a lot. It’s about my mindset, the way to play the game & tells me to keep it simple with thinking about the game and also with small technical things which he helps me a lot with. Playing with aggression is important but also to just keep calm in certain situations and to now see how next game goes,” said Brevis in a pre-match chat with broadcasters ahead of the match against Lucknow Super Giants.
In the match against Punjab, Brevis had taken apart India leg-spinner Rahul Chahar for four and four consecutive sixes in the ninth over, which included a massive 112 meters six over long-on.
Asked about the same, Brevis remarked, “I really enjoyed it a lot and just try to learn from everyone and try to play fearless out there and play smart cricket. It just happened (against Chahar), I knew my strengths and when I see the ball, they just took over.”
Brevis signed off by saying that sharing the dressing room and learning from legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and head coach Mahela Jayawardene has been a dream come true for him. “It’s really a dream come true to learn from all the legends about cricket in the dressing room. There is so much to learn every day, every minute. Now to just learn and to do it than out on the field.”
