No Mhatre Or Brevis In 2026? Will CSK Be Allowed To Retain Them For Next Season?

Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis in IPL 2025 for CSK [Source: AP Photos]

Chennai Super Kings will face a unique squad dilemma heading into the next edition of the IPL. During the ongoing IPL 2025, the signed two players - 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre and South African prodigy Dewald Brevis as injury replacements. With the original players - Ruturaj Gaikwad and Gurjapneet Singh expected to be back in squad in next season, the question arises - WILL CSK HAVE TO RELEASE MHATRE AND BREVIS?

Mid-Season Replacements in 2025

CSK added Mhatre and Brevis to their IPL 2025 squad to fill gaps. Mhatre replaced the CSK skipper, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was ruled out of the tournament due to an elbow injury. The franchise picked up the youngster for a price of ₹ 30 Lakhs. 

Following this, the Super Kings signed the South African prodigy, Dewald Brevis, also known as 'Baby AB' for ₹ 2.2 Cr. Brevis replaced injured Gurjapneet Singh in the squad. 

Both Mhatre and Brevis have shown great promise in whatever chances they have got in IPL 2025. They have shown that they can be the future stars of the team rather than only play stop gap roles.

IPL Replacement Player Rules and Salary Cap

As per the rules in IPL, the franchises enjoy an exemption of their total salary cap for mid-season injury replacement signings. The fee paid to the replacement player is not counted in the team's total salary cap for that season.

However, if the franchises decide to retain the replacement for the next season, his salary will count toward the cap like the other members in the squad. The rules also state that no franchise could have a squad larger that 25 players in them.

Thus, as it stands, if CSK have to retain Mhatre and/or Brevis for the 2026 season, they must accommodate their salaries within the allowed budget of ₹ 120 Cr and ensure that the overall squad size stays within the 25-players limit.

Retaining Mhatre and Brevis in 2026

CSK are not obligated to release either Ayush Mhatre or Dewald Brevis. The decision completely depends on the squad composition and team strategy.

Retaining Mhatre, because of his modest price tag and him being a domestic talent might be the easier decision. On the other hand, retaining Dewald Brevis would mean the occupancy of one of the eight overseas slots allowed for a franchise. 

All said, CSK can retain both Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis, if they can adjust the total salary cap, the overseas player slots and the permitted full squad size. 

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