'High-Pressure IPL' Will Give Yashasvi Jaiswal A Chance To Reclaim T20I Spot: Childhood Coach

Yashavi Jaiswal has been in superb form in the last couple of years. While he has made quite the impression in Tests, he has not got plenty of opportunities in white-ball cricket for India. However, he has made the best of whatever opportunities have come his way.

The 23-year-old has played 23 T20Is since making his debut in 2023 and has smashed 723 runs at an impressive strike rate of 164.31. He was part of the T20 World Cup 2024 but did not feature in a single game as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened in all matches.

However, both have retired from the format, which gives Jaiswal a good chance to stake claim for a place. Jaiswal's childhood coach, Jwala Singh, believes a good season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) could see Jaiswal make it to India's squad for the T20 World Cup 2026.

"He has played a lot of T20s for India, with many fifties at a good strike rate, but in the last 2-3 series, he was rested, I can say that," Singh said in a chat with PTI.

"But yes, I believe this year's IPL will give him that opportunity [for the T20 World Cup] because there will be a lot of matches and high-pressure games."

Singh opined that the IPL has always been a pedestal through which many players have made it to the Indian team and have gone on to become legends of the game. He feels Jaiswal can follow in such footsteps.

"If you see Indian cricket, IPL is the platform from where we get the season's big hits because all IPL performances are taken into account, and you get noticed," he said.

"So yes, I think this is an opportunity because he got selected based on his IPL performance in 2023. So I think this is a fresh start, and if he performs well, scores some runs, that will really help him to get back in the team."

Singh also reckons Jaiswal will miss opening with Jos Buttler, but he will get used to it after a point. Buttler was bought by Gujarat Titans (GT) for INR 15.75 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, which effectively ends Jaiswal's partnership with him. 

"I think he will definitely miss Buttler because he used to always call him 'Jos bhai' to me on call or whenever he spoke about him," he said.

"So yes, when you have played cricket with someone for quite some time in a team as an opener, it will take a little bit of time to get adjusted."

Jaiswal's Rajasthan Royals (RR) will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad on March 23 (Sunday).