Adil Rashid picks Haj pilgrimage over T20 and ODI sequence towards Workforce India

England leg-spinner Adil Rashid will miss England’s white-ball sequence towards India and the latter phases of Yorkshire’s T20 Blast marketing campaign with a purpose to make the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. The 34-year outdated Rashid, a practising Muslim determined earlier this yr that he had reached the correct time in his life to make the pilgrimage, and has been granted depart by the ECB and Yorkshire. He’ll fly to the Center East on Saturday and is predicted to return in mid-July, forward of England`s white-ball sequence towards 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 advised ESPNcricinfo web site.

“I spoke to the ECB and to Yorkshire about it they usually have been very understanding and inspiring, like: ‘yep, you do what you’ve bought to do after which come again when you’ll be able to’. Me and the missus are going and I’ll be there for a few weeks.

Adil Rashid is a really pretty man.

Simply watched him for the final 30 minutes teaching 2 younger Dutch spinners #NEDvENG pic.twitter.com/HEbykTUYJT
— England’s Barmy Military (@TheBarmyArmy) June 22, 2022

“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.

Rashid expects to miss all six limited-overs matches towards India from July 7 to 17 however mentioned the schedule was not a serious consideration in his determination. “It wasn’t like, right, I’m playing against India – I’d better not go. That didn’t really cross my mind. It was purely: right, I’m going – the decision was irrelevant to cricket, in that sense,” he mentioned.

“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,” he added.

In absence of Rashid, England is probably going to offer Matt Parkinson a chance to play within the limited-overs sequence towards India, after he made his Check debut towards New Zealand earlier this month as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach.

(with IANS inputs)