Chennai Super Kings (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming remains optimistic about the return of Dewald Brevis, stressing that the team has taken a cautious approach to his recovery and is focusing on his availability for the next game. Brevis missed the first three matches of IPL 2026 due to a side strain, a setback that damaged CSK’s balance at the start of the season. However, with a gap of five days before their next match against Delhi Capitals on April 11 in Chennai, Fleming is hopeful that the young batsman will be ready. “Hopefully he (Dewald Brevis) will be fit for the next game. We’ve got five days between the next game. We’ve been conservative and hopefully these next five days go as well as we planned and he’s ready to go. It’s a big loss but we’re looking forward to getting him back,” Fleming said. CSK certainly felt his absence when they lost the opening three matches. Brevis, who joined the franchise as a replacement in IPL 2025, proved to be a rare positive in an otherwise disappointing campaign, scoring 225 runs in six innings at a success rate of 180, including 17 sixes. The franchise has retained him for this season with plans to slot him into the middle order when he is fully fit. There are already signs of progress. Ahead of the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Brevis spent time batting in the nets and faced a drop from assistant coach Rajiv Kumar, suggesting his return may not be far off. Fleming also bounced back in the last defeat of CSK, where he got off to a strong start in the final overs. He identified Tim David’s explosive finish as the key stage that took the game out of their reach. “The real turning point was Tim David at the back, the acceleration he did over the last five passes,” Fleming told reporters. RCB amassed a daunting 250 for 3, powered by David’s unbeaten 70 off 25 balls, along with impressive contributions from Devdutt Padikkal and skipper Rajat Patidar. Fleming felt that CSK had opportunities earlier in the innings but failed to capitalize on them and eventually lost control at the death – a phase that also affected their approach to bat. “Some good stuff early on, we created some chances. Unfortunately we just couldn’t get a few more wickets for our effort and then we held on and then unfortunately we lost our form at the back. It was a good wicket and I think if we’d been able to keep our nerve and execute a bit better, 210, 220 we’d have been in the early shell and we’ve got into it.” parts of the bat as well,” he added. Despite battling knocks from Sarfaraz Khan, Prashant Veer and Jamie Overton, CSK failed to reach 207 all out and slipped to their third straight defeat. With Brevis nearing a comeback and learning from recent setbacks, CSK will be looking to reset quickly the next time they take the field.
