Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming feels Dewald Brevis is “not far away” from being match-ready and is hopeful the batter will be available for CSK’s home game against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 11.

Brevis has missed the first three matches of IPL 2026 because of a side strain, but with a five-day gap between CSK’s game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and their next fixture, Fleming is “looking forward to getting him back”.

“We hope he is going to be right for the next game,” Fleming said during the RCB vs CSK game. “We have five days [before] 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.”

CSK didn’t train on the eve of the RCB game but on match day, Brevis was seen facing throwdowns for close to 20 minutes from assistant coach Rajiv Kumar. He mostly defended the balls but didn’t look in any visible discomfort. He then proceeded to play a game of football with the rest of his team-mates.

In the lead-up to CSK’s game against Punjab Kings at Chepauk, Brevis had batted in the side nets, but largely limited himself to facing throwdowns. He also took part in a fielding drill on match day.

Brevis had joined CSK as a replacement player in IPL 2025. He proved to be a valuable addition in an otherwise forgettable season for CSK, smashing 225 runs in six innings, striking at 180.00. More impressively, he hit 17 sixes in just 125 balls.

CSK retained him for IPL 2026 and, once fit, he is expected to slot into the middle order.

CSK had played their second game against PBKS with just two overseas players, and used three against RCB. It’s already been a tricky season for CSK, who lost their first three games after finishing bottom of the points table last season.