As much as Faf du Plessis finds MS Dhoni's leadership inspirational but when he leads Johannesburg Super Kings in the upcoming SA20, he will go about the job in his own way, with an eye on wearing the Proteas jersey in the T20 World Cup in June.
While he now leads RCB in the IPL, Du Plessis remains a sentimental favourite with the Yellow Shirt fans and watching him wear the "JSK" uniform does invoke a sense of happiness in them.
So will SA20 act as a vehicle for one last shot at the global trophy?
"Final crack... it is first about getting back from injury, looking forward to playing cricket again," he put things in perspective during the captains' press interaction on Monday.
"Obviously, the tournament is the most important thing, I just want to make sure I play good cricket. It is a great time for us to be still involved in the game. Then we'll see what happens after that."
About leading a franchise forever synonymous with MSD, Du Plessis is always ready to pick brains of seniors but leave his own imprint on JSK.
"It was great to be part of that dressing room as a young guy. Probably my biggest learning curve was to work under Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni. At the start of my leadership journey to see how the big guys do things, it was great to learn," he said.
He recollected when he first got into CSK.
"My first season, it was all about sitting and asking questions and observing. MS is captain cool, he is very calm under pressure and it is very important to be relaxed."
It is important to have originality, he said.
"When you play under some great leaders you also understand that it is important to do things in a way that is going to work for you. You just can't copy different styles all the time."
