“Baby AB” is not a name that anyone has forgotten about. Brevis lit up T20 nights with the insolence of youth and the instincts of a veteran virtuoso. Now, in mid-2025, we begin the next chapter — he’s been included in South Africa’s Test squad for the two-match series against Zimbabwe. And let me add — this is not a fly-in for the sake of a fly-in. Off the back of a strong run in the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings, Brevis may well be about to see himself evolve from a white-ball sensation into a red-ball one.
Brevis Is Breaking Boundaries—Literally and Figuratively
Transitioning formats can be an uphill battle for most players; however, for Brevis, it appears more like a natural progression. After lighting up IPL 2025 with CSK, where he presented not only with power hitting, maturity, and a measured approach to aggression, his name was already trickling across South Africa’s selection meetings.
Now let’s take a look at red-ball stats because that’s where the eyebrows are raised from critics. In 20 first-class matches, Brevis averages 41.31, a decent average for a 22-year-old transitioning from flashy cricketer to foundational cricketer. He has already proven he can grind out a score with numerous scores above 70, and his technique is far more compact than the original uncoordinated boy he was before shifting formats.
So, what has changed? He is no longer bashing it, and he is reading the game as a player who has been there for a long time. And that maturity is exactly why it makes sense to have him on South Africa’s touring squad for the Zimbabwe Tests.
Why Brevis Could Thrive in Test Cricket
It is easy to pigeonhole players like Brevis as players that we only see when T20 is in full flame. Explosive, entertaining, crowd-pleasing, that’s him, but usually not a potential Test player.
His recent performances for South Africa ‘A’ gave some insight into this regard. Brevis didn’t ‘tear up’ the game with hundreds, but he nevertheless demonstrated a development path in terms of his ability to negotiate the conditions, rotate the strike, settle down, and accelerate scoring when the opportunity presented itself. But what was his point of difference? Balance – the ability to throttle down the game, to concentrate for long periods, and the challenge of not feeling like you must attack every ball.
Why Brevis Signals a Shift in South African Cricket
Brevis’ selection is one player joining the Test squad, it is a change of mentality in South African cricket. The selectors have now made it clear they’re prepared to reward form, potential, and versatility with less regard for rigid conventional preconceptions. And with the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia, playing young players vs Zimbabwe seems like a very deliberate selection to develop depth ahead of what is about to be the next cycle.
It’s also a clarion call to the young cricketers in this country that you can be more than just pedestrian in white-ball and still be considered for higher honours. Go forth and be great regardless of the format; if you demonstrate tenacity, hunger, and numbers in red-ball cricket, you will be granted the keys to Test cricket. This is the storyline that Brevis is creating, one inning at a time.
Is this the dawning of a new Test era in Dewald Brevis’ career? Or yet another experiment on the way to superstardom? Regardless, it should be a fun watch.
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