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After a stellar showing in his first Tata IPL season, where he scored 161 runs batting in the top-order, Dewald Brevis is on a well-deserved break.

He is back home in South Africa, where he has been catching up with friends and family after a few months away. Recently, he did an interview with the magazine ‘Cricket Fanatics’ on their YouTube channel and spoke warmly of his time in the Tata IPL with us.

The experience was really special for him and it was tough to pick which was his favourite part.

“It was very special to meet Rohit, Ishan and the whole team when I finished quarantine. Of course, my debut was a special memory, playing in front of so many people. The louder it gets, the higher the pressure gets and I love that. The pressure to perform for MI is good because it motivates you to get another trophy for the team,” Brevis stated in the interview.

Another memory that stood out for DB was meeting one of his childhood idols, Sachin Tendulkar and the youngster remembers being star-struck when he first saw the Master Blaster.

“I was laying on the floor of the gym and suddenly Sachin sir appeared at the door. I didn’t know what to do and the first time I shook his hand, it was insane. I have idolised him and the small technical details he taught me were special. It was great to learn from legends like him and coach Mahela,” recalled Brevis.

The support team at MI - Mahela Jayawardene, Zaheer Khan, Robin Singh, Shane Bond among others - also helped the teenager plan his training better and taught him the importance of mental strength.

“The set-up at MI is amazing because there are so many people to support you. I trusted them to make the right decisions for me, everyone just wanted me to play my game, i.e be fearless and embrace the moment. The mental side was an important part of my learning there,” said Brevis.

“It’s important to be playing as many games to understand how top-level cricket works. So when I came back to the team towards the end, it was easier for me to know what works. You have to be fearless but not reckless and identify moments to attack and when to take a single.”

And when asked about his friendship with fellow teenager Tilak Varma, DB admitted that the two are still in constant conversation.

“I am missing Tilak, he is a great friend, we still keep chatting with each other. He is just a year older to me and there is so much to learn from him. Tilak is a prankster and I am already planning how to get back at him next year. I have taught him some Afrikaans and he taught me a bit of Hindi, I would really like to speak in Hindi too.”

DB also admired the fact that the team stayed together and never stopped trying even after a tough run of results early in the season.

“The eight losses was tough but the team was always positive. We stayed true to the process and we came together as a team in the final six matches, we played it as a mini Tata IPL. It was great to see how the results moulded the team and it is a big positive to carry forward for next season,” he concluded.

Mindset, friendship and collective spirit - it certainly was an enriching experience for DB in his first season of the Tata IPL and we cannot wait to see how he puts that to use in the coming years!