R Ashwin’s stunning revelation of his Chennai Super Kings teammate Dewald Brevis demanding a higher paygrade for his signing as a mid-season replacement signing in the IPL 2025 edition has raised eyebrows. Former India opener Aakash Chopra has raised a question whether Ashwin inadvertently ended up revealing an IPL replacement player signing loophole that the five-time champions CSK exploited after a rocky start to their campaign.
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After being snubbed in the IPL 2024 Mega Auctions, Brevis was roped in as a surprise pick by the Super Kings on April 18, 2025, exactly at the halfway point of their season. In the first seven matches, CSK only won two matches before the Brevis coup brought in some stability later on.
Ashwin’s reveal
Ashwin, who has expressed he is open to trade himself out from his home franchise recently, revealed that the young South African who lit up a cracking century against Australia this week, was approached by multiple teams during the IPL 2025 season.
“I will tell you something. About Brevis. He had a great time last IPL with CSK. In fact, a few teams were talking to him. A few teams left him because of the price. When he was supposed to be signed as a replacement, he was supposed to be signed at the base price. But what happens is you talk to the agents and the player will say, if you give me X amount extra, I will come,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
The existing IPL rules state that the signing of a replacement player cannot exceed that of the player he will be replacing on the roster. The figure stood at Rs 2.2 crore in this case as CSK approached Brevis (listed at base price of INR 75 lakh) to replace Gurjapneet who was drafted in during the auction.
“That happens because the player knows if he is released next season, he will go for good money. So his concept was that, you pay me good money now else I will go for more next year. And CSK were ready to pay him, hence he came. In the back half, the CSK combination was strong. They will go with Rs 30 crore in IPL 2026 mini auction,” Ashwin added.
Did CSK pay more than Rs 2.2 crore to Brevis?
Chopra has raised a pertinent question as to whether the Super Kings roped in Brevis at a cost higher than the regulated amount.
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“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 on his YouTube channel.
Chopra has said if one was to go by Ashwin’s statement, CSK might have just snapped Brevis by exploiting a loophole in the IPL governing rules.
“Ashwin is saying that players ask for more money, and according to him, the Chennai Super Kings agreed as well. Since Ashwin has said it, I believe Brevis would have asked for more money. 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,” he added.
