Gautam Gambhir backs Yashasvi Jaiswal to become an ODI star for India

The 23-year-old opener has already played 28 Tests and 23 T20 Internationals for his country but has struggled to break into the ODI team, with only four caps to date.

However, his latest performance in the format - a match and series-winning 116 off 121 balls in the third and final ODI against South Africa - proved to Gambhir that Jaiswal belongs in the team in every format of the game.

"In the one-day format, you need to know the template you want to play," Gambhir said.

"When you come into white-ball cricket from red-ball cricket, you think you have to bat aggressively. But you don't need to bat aggressively in one-day cricket, because you can split it into 30 overs and 20 overs.

"If you play 30 overs like one-day cricket - and the quality that Jaiswal has, if he can bat till 30 overs - there is no doubt he will be close to a hundred. Even after that, you have 20 overs left, which you can look at as a T20 match.

"It is only about finding a template. This was just Jaiswal's fourth game. The moment he figures out which tempo he needs to bat in one-day cricket, the sky is the limit."

Jaiswal carried his bat, forming crucial partnerships with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to ensure India won the game at a canter with more than 10 overs to spare.

"We try and give opportunities wherever we can. Because we still want a reasonable group, probably around 20-25 players in that group before the World Cup.

"But once your captain and vice-captain are back, obviously they are your starters. But yes, what [Jaiswal] had to do, he has done that. And hopefully whenever it is possible, we will try and give him opportunities.

"And more importantly, I think he needs to keep himself motivated because he should be ready whenever he gets that opportunity."