Jwala Singh, the formative coach of Yashasvi Jaiswal, believes the IPL season will be key to the opener's bid to reclaim a spot in India's squad for next year's T20 World Cup. The 23-year-old Jaiswal has impressed in Tests but faces stiff competition in the T20I setup, with openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma in solid form for the national team. The T20 showpiece will be co-hosted by defending champions India and Sri Lanka from February to March in 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.
"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 told PTI Videos on Friday.
Jaiswal has so far scored 723 runs in 23 T20Is.
Singh emphasized on IPL's role as a platform for players to make a mark.
"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." The 18th edition of the IPL is beginning on Saturday.
Jaiswal, however, will be without his former Rajasthan Royals opening partner, England's Jos Buttler, who has joined Gujarat Titans.
Singh acknowledged that Jaiswal will miss Buttler's presence but is confident the young opener will adapt.
"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." Singh, who has mentored Jaiswal, urged the opener not to lose sight of the bigger picture.
"But I think it is always more important to move on and get the right combination because the target is to win matches for your team, hence you are in the team, so these things are always a little uncomfortable at first," he said.
"But Rajasthan have a good squad, and they have already had a lot of preparation games. I hope they have got the right opening combination with Yashasvi as well." Singh also expressed confidence in Jaiswal's ability to end the IPL season as the highest run-scorer.
"I am more than proud of him. The dream which I was chasing as a cricketer, I could not achieve, and my student is doing that. He is more than a student to me," he said.
"I always say that the journey is not just to play for India but to become the next legend, which I am hoping for.
"So, I expect to see him finishing as nothing more than the highest run-getter of the league. He just needs to take to the field with the mindset of being the best."
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