Explained: What’s the controversy involving R Ashwin and CSK’s signing of Dewald Brevis?

“Dewald Brevis had a great time in the IPL last year after CSK got him in in the back half of the season,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “I even heard that two-three teams were also talking to him but they had to let him go after not being able to pay extra money. He had a base price in the auction but discussions and negotiations would have happened with his agent, that ‘I’ll join the team only for a certain sum of money’.

“His concept would have been that ‘If I play this season, my value (for the next auction) will go higher’. So he might have told CSK, ‘I’ll need the extra money’. And the team was willing to pay him extra, which is why he came in,” added Ashwin.

How did Brevis join CSK?

Having enrolled for the IPL player auction for Rs 75 lakh, Brevis had gone unsold. When Harry Brook pulled out of IPL, Delhi Capitals had an opportunity to sign him, but after their pacer Gurjapneet Singh was ruled out of the tournament with an injury, CSK chose Brevis as a replacement as they still had one overseas player quota vacant. It meant, CSK were allowed to sign Brevis higher than his base price (Rs 75 lakh) at Rs 2.2 crore, which is what the franchise had bought Gurjapneet. It has happened in the past as well with Royal Challengers Bengaluru when they signed Chris Gayle. More recently in 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders had bought Jason Roy as a replacement player for Rs 2.8 crore when was his base price was Rs 1.5 crore.

Was it under the rules?

Very much. Under IPL regulations, a replacement player cannot be signed for a fee exceeding that of the player he replaces. Since Brevis came as a replacement for Gurjapneet, CSK were well within their rights to pay Rs 2.2 crore to Brevis. Clause 6.6 under ‘Replacement Players’ states: “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.”

So why the issue?

While Ashwin later explained in a separate video after CSK issued a clarification that the signing of Brevis was in complete compliance with the rules and regulations of IPL, he had failed to mention the fee (which was in public domain) that he was signed for. After CSK issued clarification, speaking on his channel Ashwin clarified again.

Ashwin has reacted to CSK’s clarification on the Dewald Brevis signing. (BCCI)

“The IPL or those who need to give approval give the approval, and the player comes and plays. If there was any fault here, that player would not have played in the franchise. This is not about Brevis,” he said.

Not the first time

While Ashwin had gone on to explain in detail as to how trade deals happen in the same show, it was surprising to see him miss the signing price. During the last IPL season, Ashwin’s YouTube channel decided not to preview or review CSK’s games after one of their panellists – Prasanna Agoram – had questioned the decision to pick Noor Ahmad when they already had two spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin. The video was taken down after criticism from social media. And even with regards to Brevis incident, Ashwin has edited out the part that created controversy.

Speaking on K Srikkanth’s Cheeky Cheeka YouTube channel Ashwin’s former teammate Anirudha Srikkanth criticised the former India all-rounder for discussing a teammate’s contract on public forum. “This has come right after Ashwin, on his YouTube channel, spoke about his contract. Which I feel is, first of all, very, very wrong. Being a current player, being in the same team, talking about another player’s contract – even though it might have been in a different context – this is the problem it can lead to,” Anirudha said.

Is there a conflict?

When Ashwin’s channel had aired the preview and review show after the first IPL game last season, one of the criticism levelled was it amounts to conflict of interest. Though Ashwin wasn’t part of those shows, following uproar, they stopped the show. But ever since he started his YouTube channel, though he was a centrally contracted player, the BCCI has never stopped him from doing so. In 2007, the BCCI though had stopped selectors from writing columns even when their positions were honorary. Then chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar had to stop writing column in a Marathi daily.