Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has addressed the controversy surrounding his remarks on Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) signing of Dewald Brevis, following the five-time champions' statement confirming the South African batter's deal as a replacement player for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.

Brought in as a replacement for the injured Gurjapneet Singh, Brevis's stint with CSK proved to be beneficial, as the young South African batter made a significant impact, scoring 225 runs in six matches with a strike rate of 180.

A raging dispute flared as former India spinner Ashwin indicated in his YouTube channel that the CSK were willing to pay “extra” to seal Brevis' services.

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Chennai Super Kings on Saturday issued a clarification, saying the signing process of the South African batter was in "complete compliance with the rules and regulations" of the league.

"Chennai Super Kings categorically clarifies that all actions taken by the franchise during the signing process of Dewald Brevis as a Replacement Player during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 were in complete compliance with the rules and regulations of IPL,” the CSK said in a statement.

“In April, 2025, Dewald Brevis was signed for a league fee of INR 2.2 Cr as a replacement player for the injured Gurjapneet Singh, who was picked up at the IPL 2025 Player Auction held at Abadi AI Johar Arena, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for a price of INR 2.2 Cr,” the statement further added.

Ashwin explained his perspective on CSK's signing of Brevis, noting that his words were blown out of proportion, emphasising that he merely presented facts.

“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 his YouTube channel.

“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, franchise, and the IPL have a binding contract," the former India spinner said.

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R Ashwin lauded CSK's management for signing explosive batter Brevis, noting that the five-time champions had "struck gold" with the 22-year-old talent.

"I watch a lot more cricket. I don’t pay too much attention to these things (on the Brevis-CSK controversy). Nowadays, we make YouTube videos, and we give our opinion in these videos. The ones who watch the videos don’t tend to do anything out of the ordinary. The ones who don’t watch the videos can read the statement and twist the story. Unfortunately, in today’s times, folks can watch smaller videos, read shorter headlines. There is nothing wrong there. Dewald Brevis is a fabulous player, and the way he is batting, CSK has struck gold. Whoever has made the decision they have taken a fabulous decision," said Ashwin.