The boy can play.

For someone referred to as ‘Baby AB’, this piece of compliment from AB de Villiers would have been a massive confidence boost for young Dewald Brevis, following his breathtaking century against Australia.

Brevis’ unbeaten 125 off just 56 balls in the second T20I on Tuesday, comprising 12 boundaries and eight maximums, marked a big step for the 22-year-old to come out of the shadows of his role model, Proteas great De Villiers, and focus on his style of play. That, after an inauspicious start to his T20I career.

With the knock, South Africa’s youngest T20I centurion has shown he’s on course to becoming the “original Dewald”, something he emphasised during Tuesday’s post-match news conference.

“In general, any player needs to be himself or the best version of himself,” Deon Botes, one of Brevis’ coaches in his early days, told The Telegraph from Cape Town on Wednesday.

“But following in the footsteps of AB could put Dewald under extra pressure, especially at a stage when he’s still learning about his game.”

When he unleashes the off-drives and aerial strokes over long-on and mid-wicket, one can find a striking resemblance to De Villiers. But unlike the former South Africa skipper, the scoops and reverse-scoops don’t seem to be finding any place in Brevis’ game, which is rather focused more on playing in the ‘V’ (area on the field between mid-on and mid-off positions).

For Brevis, that’s his “natural way of hitting”, but what facilitates him is his power. “He has got a lot of power, so I don’t think he needs to play cheeky shots when he can get away with his power,” Botes pointed out.

“Featuring the cheeky, fancy shots also means you have too many strokes in your armoury. And once you have too many of them, they don’t allow your instincts to take over.

“For Dewald, his instinct is to hit straight, and that way, he simplifies his batting,” Mandla Mashimbyi, Brevis’ former coach at Titans and current head coach of South Africa Women, said.

For a youngster to avoid being cheeky isn’t something that comes easily. But for the moment, young Brevis seems keen to tread the conventional path for his runs, which bodes well for South Africa, especially ahead of the Test series in India this November and the T20 World Cup early next year.

The IPL too has had a glimpse of Brevis’ abilities, particularly his 25-ball 52 that was pivotal to Chennai Super Kings’ two-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden this year. It will be a huge surprise if CSK don’t retain him for the next edition.