Did CSK Use a Loophole to Sign Dewald Brevis? Aakash Chopra Raises Questions

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has questioned whether Chennai Super Kings might have used a loophole in signing Dewald Brevis as an injury replacement. His comments came after Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that the South African cricketer had talked about his salary with CSK, first asking for more than their initial offer. In the end, the franchise agreed to pay the amount he wanted.

Brevis had set his base price at ₹75 lakh for the mega auction but went unsold. Later, in the middle of the season, Chennai Super Kings picked him as a replacement for the injured Gurjapneet Singh. After going unsold, Brevis’ name was added to the Registered Available Player Pool (RAPP), a list of players who didn’t get picked in the auction but can still be signed by teams as replacements.

On his YouTube show, Aakash Chopra talked about Ravichandran Ashwin’s comments on CSK signing Dewald Brevis as a replacement player. Chopra wondered if teams are actually allowed to pay more than the official purse limit. He used Brevis’ case to explain how pro-rata salaries work, saying the payment could only be between his base price of ₹75 lakh and ₹2.20 crore.

"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.

Brevis’ Mid-Season Pay and CSK Loophole Concerns

The former Indian cricketer explained that because Brevis joined in the middle of the season, he was assured of getting at least half of his base price, which is ₹37.5 lakh. However, he could earn more, up to half of the amount the injured player was getting. Since Gurjapneet’s contract was worth ₹2.20 crore, the highest Brevis could be paid for the rest of the 2025 season was around ₹1.10 crore.

"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.

Chopra reacted to Ashwin’s statement, saying that if CSK had offered more than ₹2.2 crore, it could mean they were using a loophole.

"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 said.

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