Picture Credit: X/IPL
On Saturday, August 16, the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) went on to make a big announcement as they confirmed the signing of South Africa star player Dewald Brevis. The franchise took to social media to confirm the signing, who was signed as pe the IPL Player regulations 2025-27, under the 6.6 clause of Replacement Players.
According to IPL Player Replacement Regulations, “A replacement Player signed pursuant to either paragraph 6.1 or 6.2 can be recruited at a League Fee which shall not be more than the League Fee that would have been payable to the injured/unavailable Player for the relevant Season. 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.”
R Ashwin breaks silence after CSK signs Dewald Brevis for INR 2.2 Crore
While the Yellow Army have now officially secured Brevis for a sum of INR 2.2 Crore ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, former India cricketer and star off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin believes that CSK has potentially paid a little extra. The 38-year-old went on to disclose that players and their agents ask for a big sum as getting sold in the auction usually sees them earn much more. These comments from the former Indian spinner has triggered a new controversy.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin began, "We live in such times where we have to clarify even true stories. In that way, it is a bit tricky. But I won't go there. There is no one at fault here. The clarification here on this matter has arisen from the fact that a lot of people have doubts. The point is the player is not at fault, the franchise is not at fault, and maybe the governing body is also not at fault. All of us need to understand that if a franchise needs a player, the franchise talks to the player or the player's agent and tells the BCCI, 'Look, so-and-so player of ours is injured, we need another player. ' The matter gets closed there.”
"The IPL or those who need to give approval give the approval, and the player comes and plays. If there was any fault here, that player would not have played in the franchise. This is not about Brevis; it is generally the case. There is one other thing I want to explain. My intention in the video was to describe how well Brevis was batting. We have to understand that every player who plays in the IPL has a tri-parted contract: The player, franchise, and the IPL have a binding contract," he continued.
The veteran off-spinner further went on to elaborate stating that it is not the first instance as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) also went in a similar manner for Chris Gayle. "So if something is wrong with it, it won't get ratified. That is why, probably, the tweet that said clause so-and-so makes complete sense. The flexibility that is there with the IPL's injury replacement, everyone is making use of it. It is not only CSK who have picked a replacement; there have been several other teams. RCB have taken Chris Gayle in the past, and he became a superstar. Injury replacements are a common facet of the IPL, and even in that, the rule flexibility that you have, how you make use of that, within the limit, you can use it. That is the point," Ashwin said.
Notably, Brevis was roped in as an injury replacement in April 2025 during the IPL 18 after injury ruled Gurjapneet Singh out of the edition. In six matches he played for CSK in IPL 2025, he amassed 225 runs at an average of 37.50 and a strike rate of 180.
