Who is South Africa's Dewald Brevis, famously known as Baby AB?

South Africa’s Dewald Brevis made the headlines during the ICC U10 World Cup 2022. The tournament happened in West Indies and India emerged as victorious for the record fifth time. But Brevis hogged all the limelight for his excellent batting performance for South Africa. His team got knocked out in the quarter final but he ended the World Cup as the highest run-getter.

Overall, he scored 506 runs at an average of 84.33 and a strike-rate of more than 90. No wonder, he was going to be a hot pick at the IPL mega auction. The youngster had kept his base price at 20 lakh and he triggered a bidding war between as many as four teams. CSK, PBKS, LSG bid for Dewald Brevis but in the end, it was the five-time champions Mumbai Indians who managed to secure his services at 3 crore which is a very good amount given his base price.

Dewald Brevis: Here’s why he is known as ‘Baby AB’

Dewald Brevis is known as ‘Baby AB’ in South Africa as his batting stance and timing have a striking resemblance to AB de Villiers. In fact, the  South African dugout was seen holding a placard that read ‘BABY AB!’ Interestingly, despite being known as Baby AB, RCB didn’t even bid for him.

While he is known as ‘Baby AB’, the emerging cricketer is also a die-hard fan of De Villiers in real life. He played for the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) and coincidentally, it is the same school from where his inspiration ‘Mr.360’ had done his schooling. Brevis has so far amassed 362 runs averaging 90 and a strike rate of 86 and currently, he remains the leading run-scorer of the 2022 U19 World Cup. The youngster has a century and three half-centuries to his tally.

In an interview to ICC, Dewald Brevis also said that he is a big fan of AB de Villiers and that he loves watching him bat as well. Moreover, he also dons the jersey number 17 and had asked De Villiers before donning that number.