Cricket

Reserve opener Shubman Gill and speedster Avesh Khan will be released from the Indian squad after the team's final T20 World Cup group league game against Ireland on Saturday. The decision was made as the team management believes they do not need four standbys going into the Super Eights stage.Gill and Khan were initially included in the squad for the group league stages in the United States. However, with the team now set to advance to the Super Eights, the management has decided to release them to make way for other players.The logic behind releasing Gill and Khan is straightforward. In case of any injury concerns for skipper Rohit Sharma or star batter Virat Kohli, the team has Yashasvi Jaiswal in the squad of 15, who can then come in. There is no requirement for a fourth opener during the Super Eights.Gill did not get much batting time during the net sessions in New York. Rinku Singh, who has enjoyed a fair amount of net session, will accompany the team because of his dual utility -- he is a finisher in the middle-order and can replace anyone who gets injured in that slot. And with Rinku being a left-hander, he is a like-for-like replacement of Shivam Dube, if the latter's military medium pacers are not factored in.In the case of Avesh, the team is already playing three front-line pacers along with Hardik Pandya, and there is a fifth medium pacer in Dube in case of absolute emergency. Also once the team reaches the Caribbean shores, there will hardly be any practice between Super Eights games as there is a short turnaround time, with the team travelling to the next island a day before the game. If there are no net sessions, the need to have a net bowler isn't necessary.Khaleel Ahmed will be kept with the squad because he is a left-arm pacer and in case there is some injury issues with Arshdeep, he can be the like-for-like substitute.