Former England skipper Eoin Morgan revealed Ben Stokes loved playing under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Stokes played under Dhoni for Rising Pune Supergiant and also played under the veteran’s leadership for CSK in the previous season.

However, Stokes has opted out of the upcoming season of the IPL to manage workload and fitness. Stokes was then released by CSK ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.

Meanwhile, Morgan, who led England to glory in the 2019 World Cup, hailed Dhoni’s leadership skills and lauded the wicket-keeper bat for getting the best out of his players. Dhoni was able to lead Chennai Super Kings to triumph in the last edition of the IPL.

Morgan said the foreign as well as Indian players love playing under the tutelage of MS Dhoni.

“They absolutely love it, to be honest. They talk about the same characteristics. When you’re talking about being led brilliantly, you always say, ‘Will the team follow him?’ When it’s MS Dhoni, you never question that. He leaves an indelible mark on every player. He instills the belief that they have the ability to go out and play with the pride that’s associated with CSK, and lets them know that everybody is backing them,” Morgan said while speaking at JioCinema.

“Ben Stokes, who has an incredible amount of self-belief, loved playing under MS Dhoni. He did it at Pune for a couple of years and obviously shared the dressing room with him last year. They absolutely love wearing that yellow shirt,” Morgan added.

Dhoni has led CSK to five titles in the IPL, which is the joint most along with Rohit Sharma for Mumbai Indians.

Meanwhile, Dhoni was able to add the finishing touches in IPL 2023 for CSK. The talisman scored 104 runs in 12 innings at a staggering strike rate of 182.45. The CSK captain smashed a total of 10 sixes in the previous season.

CSK will begin their IPL title defense against RCB on March 22 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.