England leg-spinner Adil Rashid is set to miss the white-ball series against India and the latter stages of Yorkshire’s T20 Blast campaign in order to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
The 34-year old Rashid, a practicing Muslim decided earlier this year that he had reached the right time in his life to make the pilgrimage, and has been granted leave by the ECB and Yorkshire. He will fly to the Middle East on Saturday and is expected to return in mid-July, ahead of England’s white-ball series against South Africa.
“I’ve been wanting to do it for a little while but I’ve found it pretty difficult with the timings. This year, I felt as though it was something that I had to do, and something I wanted to do as well,” Rashid told ESPNcricinfo.
“I spoke to the ECB and to Yorkshire about it and they were very understanding and encouraging, like: ‘yep, you do what you’ve got to do and then come back when you can’. Me and the missus are going and I’ll be there for a couple of weeks.
It’s a massive moment: each faith has got their own different thing but for Islam and being a Muslim, this is one of the biggest ones. It’s a big thing for my faith and for myself. I knew that I needed to do it while I’m young and strong and healthy. This is something that I really committed to myself that I would do,” he added.
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