Chennai Super Kings have incurred another horror start to an IPL season, losing all three of their opening games in 2026 to remain at the bottom of the table.
After the loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday, head coach Stephen Fleming hinted at urgency as he addressed Dewald Brevis’ injury status, suggesting CSK are keenly awaiting his return as they look to regain balance and momentum.
Brevis missed all the first three matches for Chennai after suffering from a side strain. But with the team now having a five-day gap before their next fixture, at home against the Delhi Capitals, Fleming is “looking forward to getting him back.”
Speaking at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, Fleming said: “We hope he is going to be right for the next game. We have five days between the next game. We have been conservative and hopefully, these next five days go as well as we have planned, and he is ready to go. It’s a big loss but we are looking forward to getting him back.”
Chennai players did not train on the eve of the match against Bengaluru, but Brevis was stopped on match day, facing throwdowns for close to 20 minutes from assistant coach Rajiv Kumar. He mostly defended the balls, and did not visibly look in any sort of discomfort during that session. The South Africa batter then played football with the rest of the teammates.
Brevis also trained with the rest of the unit ahead of Chennai’s home game against the Punjab Kings last week. He was at one of the side nets, but the training session only comprised of facing throwdowns, before he took part in fielding drills as well.
Brevis had joined the Chennai camp last season as a replacement player, but emerged as a valuable addition as he smashed 225 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 180 in an otherwise forgettable season for the former champions, who had finished at the bottom of the table for the first time in an IPL edition.
Brevis was retained ahead of the 2026 season, and once fit, Chennai will need him in the middle order. The team had earlier featured just two overseas players in the home game against Punjab and three against Bengaluru.