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England leg-spinner Adil Rashid is set to miss the home white-ball series against India and will be going on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca after being granted leave to travel by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Rashid will also miss a few games for Yorkshire in the latter stages of the ongoing T20 Blast.
The 34-year-old, a practicing Muslim, is slated to return back by mid-July ahead of England's limited-overs 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," Rashid was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "This year, I felt as though it was something that I had to do, and something I wanted to do as well.
"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'. The missus and I are going and I'll be there for a couple of weeks. It's a massive moment: each faith has got its 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."
Rashid is likely to miss the six limited-overs matches against India, which kicks off on July 7 and goes on till the 17th. But Rashid was quick to admit that the fixture list did not play a big part in his decision. "It wasn't like, right, I'm playing against India - I'd better not go," he said. "That didn't really cross my mind. It was purely: right, I'm going - the decision was irrelevant to cricket, in that sense.
"All I had to do was speak to Yorkshire and England and get their go-ahead. That was very easy and they were very understanding. To have that backing from your county and from your country, it feels like a big boost."
