Gambhir: Sky is the limit the moment Jaiswal figures out his ODI tempo

India are looking at Rana for the No. 8 spot in ODIs, and backing Washington for his adaptability, said Gambhir

India coach Gautam Gambhir sees big things ahead in Yashasvi Jaiswal's career after the opener made his first ODI century on Saturday.

Jaiswal is a regular in India's Test team but has only played four ODIs. He got his chance against South Africa, with regular opener and captain Shubman Gill out injured.

"In [the] one-day format, you need to know the template you want to play," Gambhir said after India beat South Africa by nine wickets. "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.RelatedKohli: I've not played at this level for two-three years

Harshit takes the first step in fast bowlers' race for 2027 World Cup

Jaiswal, Rohit, Kohli lead India to 2-1 series win

"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 batted through the innings: first in the company of Rohit Sharma, with whom he put on 155 runs, and then with Virat Kohli, with whom his second-wicket, unconquered partnership of 116 ushered India to victory. Earlier in the series, another non-regular member of the ODI squad, Ruturaj Gaikwad, stepped up to score a hundred as well. He scored it from No. 4, even though he is a specialist top-order batter.Ruturaj Gaikwad got to his maiden hundred in the second ODI•BCCI

"Someone like Rutu, who's batted out of position... He's a quality player, we all know. We wanted to give him an opportunity in this series because of the kind of form he was in with India A. And he actually grabbed that opportunity with both hands, getting a hundred in the second game. And when we were under pressure actually - we were 40 for 2 - and then getting that kind of a hundred was proper quality."

Both players are likely to slip out of contention though, with Gill already fit to start India's T20I series against South Africa, and Shreyas Iyer recovering well from his spleen injury.

"Look, we try and give [new players] 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 [Iyer in ODIs] is back, obviously they are your starters. But yes, what they [Jaiswal and Gaikwad] had to do [with their opportunities], they have done that. And hopefully whenever it is possible, we will try and give them opportunities.

"And more importantly, I think they need to keep themselves motivated because they should be ready whenever they get that opportunity. "Harshit Rana has been earmarked as India's No. 8•BCCI

India have been trying to gain depth in their ODI XI, so that they can score at a high tempo through the innings, and are looking at Harshit Rana as an option to lengthen their batting line-up.

"That's one of the reasons why we are trying to probably develop someone like Harshit, who can actually bat at 8 and contribute with a bat at No. 8. That's how we need to find the balance, because come South Africa in two years' time, we would be needing three proper seamers as well.

"And if he can continue to develop as a bowling allrounder, it's going to give us a massive boost. Because obviously with Jasprit Bumrah coming back, and what we saw of Arshdeep [Singh], Prasidh [Krishna] and Harshit in this series, [it] was incredible.

"All these three guys do not have a lot of experience under their belts, especially in the 50-over format… They've hardly played less than 15 ODIs, all these three bowlers, but they've done a fabulous job. So I feel that if we can develop someone like Harshit at No. 8, who can contribute with the bat, I think it is going to give us the right balance as well… Let's see. I think it's still a long way."

India have also been using Washington Sundar in various roles in both red- and white-ball cricket. Gambhir touched on that: "I've always believed in white-ball cricket, batting orders are very overrated. Except the opening combination, I think it is very, very overrated. Yes, [in] Test cricket obviously you've got to have a fixed batting order. But again, you're talking about someone who's got a hundred at Manchester, you've got someone who's got a fifty at Oval, who averages what, 40-plus in Test cricket.

"And sometimes, you've got to look at the balance as well. I know it's tough on someone like Washi, but then I think he's done an incredible job - whether he's batted at No. 3, he's batted at No. 5, he's batted at No. 7, 8. And that's the kind of character he is, and that's the kind of character we want in that dressing room, who are willing to do everything for the team with a smile on his face, which me as a batter knows how tough it is.

"We've asked him to bat in Manchester at No. 5, he got a 100. We asked him the next game to bat at No. 8, he got a 50. And at Eden Gardens, he contributed at No. 3. Again, he contributed at No. 8 in Guwahati. So I feel we need characters like that, who are willing to put everything for the team. And I'm sure he's going to continue doing that and we've got to keep developing him, because he's got a massive future ahead for Indian cricket."