'SIR' DEWALD BREVIS IS GOING TO PULL IT IN AT THE SA20 AUCTION - RYAN RICKELTON

“Sir Dewald Brevis.”

This is Ryan Rickelton’s bet for the biggest price at the upcoming Betway SA20 Player Auction. 

The MI Cape Town opener, who has been pre-signed for Season 4 by the defending champions, believes his former teammate’s services will be much sought after when Richard “The Hammer Man” Madley wields his gavel on Tuesday, 9 September in Johannesburg.

Brevis, last season’s Betway SA20 Rising Star, played a leading role in MI Cape Town annexing their first championship title with 291 runs at an average of 48.5 and strike-rate of 184.18.

The 22-year has since raised his game to the next level with a breakout Indian Premier League (IPL) season where he starred for the Chennai Super Kings after receiving a late call-up as a replacement. 

He has followed it up with a couple of explosive innings for the Proteas at international level, which includes a record-breaking 125 not out off only 56 balls in the second T20I against Australia in Darwin.

“Definitely Sir Dewald Brevis, of course,” Rickelton told Betway SA20 of his premier auction picks. 

“He's going to pull it in.

“I think Aiden Markram won't be too far behind, but I think Brev will be up there.”

Rickelton holds the distinction of being the leading run-scorer in Betway SA20 history with the left-hander accumulating 1012 runs over the past three seasons for MI Cape Town. 

It has seen him graduate to the Mumbai Indians franchise in the IPL and earn a regular place at the top of the order for the Proteas across all three formats. 

The dynamic left-hander is hoping to continue his prolific form in Season 4 alongside his new teammates picked up at the auction.

“I think it will be exciting for the guys in the auction, but exciting to see what the rest of our team will look like,” he said.

“A great opportunity for guys to make a bit of money and get a new opportunity to go play in another team, but from my perspective, definitely looking forward to seeing what the rest of our team shapes up to be.

“If I can just try to replicate what I've done these past couple of seasons, try to lay the platform. It's kind of been my role and my responsibility to get us off to a good start

“Generally, with our team, our low-order batters have been quite powerful in the previous years, and I'm sure they'll be pretty powerful this year and going forward as well.

“If we can lay the foundation and give the best opportunity for our middle-order guys to go nuts, then I guess I'm doing my job.”

MI Cape Town have already replaced Brevis’ explosive six-hitting power in the middle-order with the pre-signing of West Indian dynamo Nicholas Pooran. The former Windies T20I captain is prolific in the shortest format across leagues all around the world and holds the records for the most runs scored and sixes hit in a calendar year - 2331 and 170 respectively.

“I'm definitely looking forward to playing with ‘Nicky P’ in the MI Cape Town side,” Rickelton said. 

“He's such a formidable T20 player, so it would be nice to pick his brain about a few things.”

There will be 541 players, 300 South Africans and 241 overseas players, going under the hammer at the auction, which will be broadcast live on SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa, JioHotstar in India and Sky Sports in the UK and the Betway SA20 YouTube Channel. 

Fans will also receive rolling coverage on all Betway SA20 social and digital platforms.