With Dewald Brevis slotting into CSK’s yellow den, this U19 South African batting sensation gets ‘A’ team call-up
The South African batting stables keep unleashing big hitters with monster appetites for runs from their First-Class setup. And while all eyes are on whether Dewald Brevis will strap on for Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians in the evening, another teen prodigy has announced his arrival with a maiden call-up to the South African A squad due to tour West Indies.
Lhuan-dre Pretorious received a maiden South Africa A selection, after a domestic season in which he has starred in all possible formats. The teenage prodigy from Paarl Royals has taken the cricket world storm with his exploits across formats, according to Wisden.
Dubbing him cricket’s version of a triple-threat wonderkid, Wisden noted his versatility. He recently put on a player of the match performance in the final of the South African domestic four-day competition, saving his team from defeat with 114 while following on. This was in addition to his impressive SA20 campaign for Paarl Royals amassing 397 runs at an average of 33.08 while scoring at a brisk strike rate of 166.8. Clearly, the efforts haven’t gone unnoticed,’ Wisden wrote.
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Others to debut imminent are Lesego Senokwane in a squad with more experienced players such as Ruan de Swardt, Bjorn Fortuin, and Tshepo Moreki for the three 50-over and two 4-day matches in the Caribbean.
Missing out was Dewald Brevis who had set the stage on fire a couple of seasons back. Wisden speculated it might be due to him joining the IPL jamboree, with the former MI player now joining CSK. The Chennai socials have been buzzing over his arrival on Saturday, prompting guessing if he will be immediately drafted in as the team shrug off the lacklustre batting shows.
Wisden wrote: ‘Dewald Brevis, meanwhile, was left out of the squad. While there’s been no official update on why he has not been picked, it could be because of the mid-season IPL gig that Brevis has got. The 21-year-old was recently signed the Chennai Super Kings to replace the injured Gurjapneet Singh in their IPL 2025 squad. After breaking out in the 2022 U19 World Cup, Brevis fell off the radar for a bit but has bounced back in style recently. He had an extraordinary SA20 2025, where he accumulated 291 runs at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 184.17.”
Incidentally, both Brevis and Pretorius have been signed Hampshire for the T20 Blast, starting May 29, which clashes with the SA ‘A’ tour.
