In one of his recent interviews, sports writer, Adam Drury, goes candid with South Africa legend - AB de Villiers. Ahead of their SA20 finals, Drury directly asks Villiers about the many young talents that debuted in SA20 so far and how he compares them 'to the likes' of the young Indian heartthrob, Suryakumar Yadav.
Villiers chuckles at the question by admiring these youngsters' similarities in their approach to the game. He feels that these players prefer attacking the bowlers than letting them settle. They like playing aggressively on their sides of the pitch. However, Villiers is filled with praise for one batsman in particular - Dewald Brewis.
Known to many as 'Baby AB' (because of his resemblance to AB de Villiers), Dewald Brewis made his T20 debut on 8 October 2021, for the South Africa Under-19s in the 2021-22 CSA Provincial T20 Knock-Out tournament. At just 19 years of age, he has become a household name in households far from his country. He is a product of Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool in Pretoria, which has also given cricket to De Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Rudolph, Heino Kuhn, Neil Wagner, and Kruger van Wyk.
Villiers appreciates Brewis's effort in his game and feels that he still has much to learn. Reflecting upon his days in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Villiers said that Brewis has 'come a long way' since his amazing performance for the Mumbai Indians. As the official record states, Brewis has scored a total of 161 runs during the 7 matches that he played in the IPL for the Mumbai Indians squad. In the IPL stats, he scored the highest score of 49 versus PBKS (Punjab Kings) and had the best strike rate of 142.47 at an average of 23.00. At 19 years and 185 days old, Brevis even became the youngest South African to score a century in men's T20s.
Going further, Villiers even appreciated the way that Brewis is experiencing franchise cricket with various world-class talents in the SA20. This would greatly affect his performance and the perspective that he has toward the game. Villiers had always been excited to see his game.
Brevis has yet to play a single first-class or list-A match, much less a game for South Africa's senior team. "Dewald's career is just starting and he is just focusing on what is ahead of him month to month and just thankful for opportunities he is getting," Weber van Wyk, Brevis' agent, said in an interview. However, when that day comes, Brewis could prove a hidden jewel in the South African squad.