MUMBAI, Dec. 8 -- Blanked by South Africa in the Test series, India had a lot on the line in the ODI series, which made winning Saturday's deciding third game all the more special. The team management will also be pleased how the batting plans worked. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma gave no room to worry about their form or fitness. For those challenging their ODI spots, they have set a very high benchmark. Two years is a long time to predict if a player's form and fitness will be intact for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa. The age factor too matters and the management would want backup plans ready. In that context, they discovered fine options in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, both scoring their first ODI hundreds in the SA series. That means two new additions to a packed batting line-up. Skipper Shubman Gill is on the way to matching the terrific records of Rohit and Kohli while Shreyas Iyer is also an automatic choice. Both missed this series due to injury. There is KL Rahul in the middle-order, who captained and also hit two fifties. Kohli made 302 runs (avg 151), Jaiswal 156 (78), Rohit 146 (48.66), Rahul 126 (126) and Gaikwad 113 (56.50) in the series. With Rohit and Gill settled as openers, Jaiswal wasn't able to get a look-in. And given a chance in Gill's absence, it took him some time to figure out the tempo of the format. In the first two games he threw away starts - a 16-ball 18 and a 38-ball 22. Jaiswal's game paled in comparison with Rohit's free-flowing style. Showing maturity, the youngster didn't try to match the ODI batting great, instead focusing on his own game. Eventually on Saturday at Visakhapatnam he got the reward, proving his credentials with a 116* batting through the innings. It was only his fourth ODI. "Look, we try and give (new players) opportunities wherever we can. Because we still want a reasonable group. probably around 20-25 players before the World Cup," coach Gautam Gambhir told a media conference. However, in front of Rohit and Kohli, Jaiswal is not a finished product. He got time to play himself in during the run chase as there was no scoreboard pressure (target 271) while Rohit took it upon himself to set the pace. A Test regular, there's no doubt about the left-hand batter's ability to get big hundreds. In ODIs, however, his next challenge will be to show he can play to the team's requirement, and set the pace when batting first or while chasing formidable 325-plus totals. Gambhir gave Jaiswal his vote of confidence after the series win. "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 in one-day cricket because you can split it into 30 overs, and 20 overs (play like a T20)," he said. "This was just Jaiswal's fourth game. The moment he figures out which tempo he needs to bat (in ODIs), sky is the limit." In the second ODI, Gaikwad took the spotlight with a classy ton. It could be a bigger gain than Jaiswal as he provides options at the top of the order as well as the middle-order. Gaikwad batted at No.4 but is a specialist opener. He can match the best in quality of stroke play. A touch player, he took the breath away at Raipur with a classy 83-ball 105, matching a player of Kohli's quality stroke for stroke. Unlike Jaiswal, Gaikwad rather flies under the radar, so credit to the team management for backing him. Rather than looking at numbers in domestic cricket, these are well thought out selections. For the World Cup, the key will be to have batters who can adapt to South Africa's bouncier conditions. Jaiswal and Gaikwad though have the game for all conditions. "Someone like Rutu, who's batted out of position...We wanted to give him an opportunity in this series because of the kind of form he was in with India A. He grabbed that opportunity, getting a hundred. And when we were under pressure actually," said Gambhir. Once captain Gill and vice-captain Iyer return, Gambhir and Co will have plenty of batting options to choose from. It will be tough to accommodate both Jaiswal and Gaikwad. While a strong pool is good, it is also a tricky situation to handle. For opening itself, India have four options now - Rohit, Gill, Jaiswal and Gaikwad. India will need clarity of plans for the World Cup and figure out the right combination. It will be important to avoid an Ambati Rayudu-kind of situation. In the run-up to the 2019 World Cup in England, India kept trying Rayudu at No.4 before ditching him ahead of the tournament. It left India to play with a makeshift No.4 which didn't really work....