Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has reacted to the statement released by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) regarding the Dewald Brevis controversy.
Recently, on his YouTube channel, Ashwin had mentioned that the young South African cricketer was offered additional money “under the table” to sign with CSK as an injury replacement.
According to Ashwin’s earlier comments, Brevis was paid over and above his auction price of ₹2.2 crore. The remark quickly snowballed into a heated debate, with several fans alleging that the franchise had engaged in unfair practices. In response, CSK issued a strong clarification, rejecting all allegations and insisting that the signing followed IPL rules.
Ashwin clarifies his statement
After CSK’s denial, Ashwin has now clarified his statement to put the matter to rest. He explained that his comment was not meant to single out CSK and reminded fans that player replacements have always been part of IPL’s history.
“We live in such times where we have to clarify even true stories. In that way, it is a bit tricky. But I won’t go there. There is no one at fault here. The clarification here on this matter has arisen from the fact that a lot of people have doubts. The point is the player is not at fault, the franchise is not at fault, and maybe the governing body is also not at fault. All of us need to understand that if a franchise needs a player, the franchise talks to the player or the player’s agent and tells the BCCI, ‘Look, so-and-so player of ours is injured; we need another player. ’ The matter gets closed there,” Ashwin said on Ash ki Baat.
“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; it is generally the case. There is one other thing I want to explain. My intention in the video was to describe how well Brevis was batting. We have to understand that every player who plays in the IPL has a tri-parted contract: the player, the franchise, and the IPL have a binding contract.”
To illustrate, he pointed out that even Chris Gayle had joined Royal Challengers Bangalore as an injury replacement and went on to represent the team for many successful years.
“So, if something is wrong with it, it won’t get ratified. That is why, probably, the tweet that said clause so-and-so makes complete sense. The flexibility that is there with the IPL’s injury replacement, everyone is making use of it. It is not only CSK who have picked a replacement; there have been several other teams. RCB have taken Chris Gayle in the past, and he became a superstar. Injury replacements are a common facet of the IPL, and even in that, the rule flexibility that you have, how you make use of that, within the limit, you can use it. That is the point,” Ashwin added.
