IPL million-dollar man Heinrich Klaasen offers SA20 record signing Dewald Brevis sage advice

Former Proteas master blaster Heinrich Klaasen has offered Betway SA20 record signing Dewald Brevis sage advice to deal with the pressure of his new hefty price tag.

Brevis, 22, became the most expensive player in SA20 history on Tuesday after the Pretoria Captials won a bidding war with Joburg Super Kings to secure his signature for R16.5 million at the Season 4 player auction.

Klaasen, who will feature for Durban’s Super Giants, knows all big-money T20 deals after being retained by Indian Premier League outfit Sunrisers Hyderabad for $2.73-million (R48.2-million) last year.

“It’s quite easy to be fair,” Klaasen joked about dealing with the price-tag pressure. “But seriously though, it’s what he has done before to get him that price tag. It’s not about what he’s going to do.

“All the guys know you can train as hard as you want, but you can nick the first ball. That’s part of the job.

“The price tag comes from what he's done in the past, and obviously he'll work hard and tick all the boxes to give him the best chance to perform, but the price tag is just a reward for what he's done.”

Brevis was one of MI Cape Town’s standout players in the Season 3, playing a pivotal role in the Newlands-based team winning their first SA20 title. 

The 22-year-old scored 291 runs at an average of 48.5 at a strike-rate of 184.18. 

He has since enjoyed a breakout IPL season with the Chennai Super Kings and gone on to smash the South African all-time record for the highest individual score after blasting 125 not out off just 56 balls against Australia in the second T20I in Darwin last month.