Faf reveals secret of Dhoni's IPL success: Recruiting Int'l captains who are thinking cricketers

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's intelligent recruitment policy of roping in international captains who can contribute stretagically, was one of the biggest reason for Chennai Super Kings's stupendous success in IPL, feels former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis.

CSK has been a part of 10 out of 12 seasons of IPL and have never finished lower than semi-finals or play-offs.

"A great thing that CSK has done over the years, and that's credit to MS and (Stephen) Fleming the coach, is they have targeted captains - (Brendon) McCullum, myself, (Dwayne) Bravo, obviously MS, (Suresh) Raina's captained a bit - because they want thinking cricketers," the 35-year -old told CSK's website.

"So, there's a lot of leaders within group, that experience of thinking cricketers is what they want and obviously it has proven to be very successful," he added.

"Chennai Super Kings is a great franchise to be a part of. MS has got such strong leadership. He leaves a massive hole when he's not on the field," the ...