New Mumbai Indians recruit Dewald Brevis has acknowledged former India captain Sachin Tendulkar as a boyhood role model.
Brevis joined Mumbai in the Indian Premier League for the approximate equivalent of R6 million during last month’s player auction.
Tendulkar, who is the leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket, has worked with the franchise as a mentor since retiring from international competition.
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‘Be humble because pride can be your downfall’
“The way Tendulkar played was always an inspiration to me. My favourite innings of his is the ODI double-century, which happened to be against South Africa. I remember watching the match with my brother – it was an amazing innings,” Brevis told mumbaiindians.com.
“I read his autobiography, Playing it My Way, and there are a lot of things from there that I’d like to implement in my game. One thing I learnt from him is that you have to be humble because pride can be your downfall.”
Mumbai are the most successful franchise in the history of the IPL with five titles. Their captain is Indian batsman Rohit Sharma and they have local fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. England fast bowler Jofra Archer also recently joined the squad.
“MI has always been one of my favourite teams. We were in isolation before the Under-19 World Cup and I watched the Netflix documentary, Cricket Fever. I can sense that familial feeling and how the players are one big family,” added Brevis.
“I would love to share the dressing room with Sharma. He is a wonderful batter, smokes the bowlers and I have seen him rise through the ranks over the years.
“I am grateful that both Archer and Bumrah are in the team. I think it will be tougher to face Bumrah, I have seen him bowl live at Supersport Park in Centurion for India against South Africa and it is surreal that I will be facing Bumrah in the nets soon.”
‘I want to be known as Dewald Brevis’
Brevis was the top run-scorer in the recent Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean – and has drawn comparisons to former Proteas captain and Royal Challengers Bangalore star AB de Villiers.
“It is an honour to be compared to AB, but it is important for me to have my own identity. I want to be known as Dewald Brevis,” he concluded.
“We went to the same school and played under the same coach so when I first met him, I could not get a word out. There were many things I wanted to ask him but I was star struck.
“I would say he is great to learn from – he makes time for you and that is something I really appreciate. I mean, he is AB de Villiers and he could be a very different guy but he is very humble. I plan to ask him about his knowledge of the IPL soon.”