Mature du Plessis crucial for South Africa

What would a combined Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni's captaincy style be like? It'd be very similar to Faf du Plessis'.

Du Plessis, South Africa's T20 captain, started his international career as the angry young man Kohli has built his caricature around but is swiftly moving towards the more sage-like sensibility of Dhoni. In India, where he will take on both of them, those complimentary skills could come to the fore.

Du Plessis will lead South Africa at the start of the tour and will assume a senior role in the ODIs and Tests where he will provide stability. Provided his fitness holds - du Plessis has only just recovered from a knee injury that kept him out of action for more than a month - he will be a key figure in South Africa's fortunes, from the very first moment when he goes toe-to-toe with Dhoni.

Luckily for South Africa, du Plessis knows Dhoni better than anyone else in South Africa's squad. Du Plessis has played under Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings and understands what makes Dhoni such an inspirational leader. "MS' strength as a captain is his cricket brain. He controls everything on the field - everything is up to him," du Plessis explained. "He will set the field. He will tell the bowler what to bowl. He will decide the batting order, he will decide when he goes in to bat, he is a very powerful member in that Indian team. And MS is very calm. When there is real pressure in the field, guys look to MS."

That sounds very much like the kind of player du Plessis is evolving into, especially as a batsman. Even on Test debut, du Plessis showed authority when he controlled an innings Australia thought they had wrapped up. He has since gone on to do the same to India and Sri Lanka. That approach has not always seemed to serve him well in shorter formats, where du Plessis acts as the anchor others bat around. Some have called for more aggression, something du Plessis expects from India in the longer format, where Kohli is king.

"Virat is a little more aggressive and in your face and with his style of captaincy, he will demand a bit of that from his players as well," du Plessis said. "We'll see a little bit more of that in this series than we usually do from India. Usually, they are pretty chilled and smile and relaxed on the field and just talk around the bat when the spinners are bowling, but it's a new phase of Indian cricket and we've also got a few guys who can do a bit of that."

Banter has become a more recent talking point in matches between India and South Africa, with the 2010-11 series a match up of motor-mouths. Then, Sreesanth had words with Graeme Smith and Paul Harris retaliated. Now, those three are not around but the likes of Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn are, and the conversations will continue. The crowd could get involved but du Plessis will not, as he tries to usher the younger players through the baptism of fire that playing in India is.

"A few of us are used to those crowds of 50,000 or 60,000 people, but for the younger guys it's something to get used to. When you get there at the beginning of your career, the fans can be quite intimidating," du Plessis said. "The challenge for us as a team is that we have a few younger players that haven't travelled as much so we need to try and bridge that gap as quickly as possible."

And there is also the bigger picture. Du Plessis will return to India next March to try and break South Africa's major-tournament trophy drought, at the World T20, and this is the best preparation he could ask for. "I am excited for this tour because its in India, where we are going to play the World T20. There are a few guys who are getting opportunity, guys who can potentially make an impact in these conditions. If you look at someone like Eddie Leie, he is probably a left-field inclusion but it is to give guys who are not as experienced as playing in India through the IPL an opportunity," du Plessis said. "Everything that we do as a T20 side is geared towards that World T20 and there is no difference for this series."

That sounds like something any one of Dhoni, Kohli or du Plessis would say.