CHENNAI Super Kings have issued a clarification around the mid-season signing of South Africa’s Dewald Brevis in IPL 2025, stating that the deal was “in complete compliance” with tournament regulations. The statement came after R Ashwin, speaking on his YouTube channel, suggested that CSK had to pay ‘extra money’ to secure the services of the South African.
“Dewald Brevis had a great time in the IPL last year after CSK got him in in the back half of the season,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “I even heard that two-three teams were also talking to him but they had to let him go after not being able to pay extra money. He had a base price in the auction but discussions and negotiations would have happened with his agent, that ‘I’ll join the team only for a certain sum of money’.

“His concept would have been that ‘If I play this season, my value (for the next auction) will go higher’. So he might have told CSK, ‘I’ll need the extra money’. And the team was willing to pay him extra, which is why he came in,” added Ashwin.

Under IPL regulations, a replacement player cannot be signed for a fee exceeding that of the player he replaces. Furthermore, the rules add that, ” If a Replacement Player is recruited during a Season, the League Fee actually paid to him will be reduced to take account of the Franchisee’s matches during the relevant Season which took place before he was registered and any other relevant deductions under the Player Contract.”

Dewald Brevis, who was unsold at the auction, had come in as a mid-season replacement for pacer Gurjapneet Singh, who was ruled out injured after being signed for INR 2.2 crore at the auction in Jeddah.

In its statement, CSK said Brevis was signed in April 2025 for INR 2.2 crore, the same amount Gurjapneet had fetched at the auction, and that the process adhered to clause 6.6 of the IPL Player Regulations 2025-27 relating to replacement players. The franchise also pointed to the IPL’s own media advisory issued on April 18 confirming the signing under these terms. (Cricbuzz)