IPL | CSK issue statement over Dewald Brevis signing after questions raised by R Ashwin, Aakash Chopra

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have issued a statement to clear the air over their signing of South Africa's Dewald Brevis during IPL 2025 as an injury replacement for Gurjapneet Singh. The five-time IPL champions have claimed that the IPL Player Regulations 2025-27 were followed in this process.CSK cited Clause 6.6 under 'Replacement Players' of the regulations which reads, “A replacement Player signed pursuant to either paragraph 6.1 or 6.2 can be recruited at a League Fee which shall not be more than the League Fee that would have been payable to the injured/unavailable Player for the relevant Season. "If a Replacement Player is recruited during a Season, the League Fee actually paid to him will be reduced to take account of the Franchisee’s matches during the relevant Season which took place before he was registered and any other relevant deductions under the Player Contract.” In the statement, CSK also made clear that Brevis, who had gone unsold in the auction at his base price of Rs 75 lakh, was signed for a fee of Rs 2.2 crore - same as that of the injured Gurjapneet Singh, who had been snapped during the IPL Auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.The issue arose when CSK bowler Ashwin said the South African player asked for more money than the franchise's first over before an agreement was eventually reached.Adding to it, Aakash Chopra questioned whether a loophole exists to pay players more than their base price."He didn't play the first match, but after that, he batted extremely well and took an incredible catch on the boundary. Ashwin has disclosed that he asked for more money. Is there any provision to give him more money than he should have gotten officially? In such a case, can the purse limit be broken? Is there a loophole there, which Ashwin has highlighted," Chopra said in his YouTube show."You get your total salary on a pro-rata basis. It cannot be lower than your base price. In Dewald Brevis' case, it couldn't have been lower than ₹75 lakh, and couldn't have been above ₹2.20 crore, the salary of Gurjapneet Singh," he added."Ashwin is saying that players ask for more money, and according to him, the Chennai Super Kings agreed as well. In case you have given more than ₹2.20 crore, as it's a plan for next year, if there was a loophole, you have exploited it," Chopra continued.