'Nothing to do with rules': AB de Villiers clarifies 'CSK's masterstroke' comment on Dewald Brevis IPL signing

NEW DELHI: Dewald Brevis’ breakout series in Australia this month has once again placed the young South African in the spotlight, with AB de Villiers stepping in to clarify some of his earlier remarks about the Protean power-hitter.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Speaking on his YouTube channel, de Villiers stressed that his intention was never to question the legality of Brevis’ IPL entry, but to highlight how several franchises missed a trick by not investing in the youngster.“I purely just wanted to say that a lot of teams missed out, and I think that was the message from me,” de Villiers said. “People, organisers of the IPL franchises, the owners, whoever, the scouts, I felt got it horribly wrong in that main auction, not picking him up. What a fantastic opportunity they had.”The former RCB stalwart named his old franchise along with the Mumbai Indians — Brevis’ previous IPL home — as those who erred in letting the batter slip to Chennai Super Kings. “I think teams like RCB, obviously, he was at MI before, they decided to let go of him and not get him back. So, big loss I feel for a lot of teams, and he’s showing that now,” he said.On speculation about CSK’s signing process, de Villiers was unequivocal: “I also tweeted about him being picked up at the IPL or not being picked up initially, and then getting into CSK’s team because of an injury. I thought maybe some people misunderstood my tweet. It had nothing to do with any technical or anything to do with the rules of the IPL.”Even as Brevis continues to light up the international stage with fearless six-hitting, de Villiers urged him to learn the art of pacing innings. “Understanding the change of gears… that’s the kind of player you want in your team,” he concluded.