LONDON: England leg spinner Adil Rashid has announced he will perform Hajj this year and will miss England’s upcoming ODI and T20 series against India.
Rashid will leave for Saudi Arabia on Saturday with his wife to make the Hajj pilgrimage and will be unavailable for his country and his county, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, for the next few weeks.
England Cricket Board and Yorkshireshire CCC have granted Rashid permission to perform the hajj pilgrimage.
“I spoke to the ECB and Yorkshire about it and they were very supportive and encouraging, like, ‘yeah, do what you have to do and then come back when you can.’ The lady and I are going to go and I will be there for a couple of weeks,” Rashid said as reported by the espncricinfo website.
While discussing his desire to undertake a holy journey, he revealed that as a Muslim, he had made a commitment to do so because it is one of the most important obligations defined by Islam.
“It’s a huge moment – each faith has its own different things, but for Islam and being a Muslim, this is one of the most important.
It is a big thing for my faith and for me.
He knew he had to do it while he was young, strong and healthy. This is something that I really committed to doing,” she added.
Rashid stated that the entire team respected him and his fellow Muslims, Moeen Ali and Saqib Mahmood, for their faith.
He credited England skipper Eoin Morgan and the team’s management for creating a supportive environment.
“It’s very easy for us to be who we are in the locker room, on and off the field, with the guys because they’re so understanding,” he said.
“We are all from different backgrounds and different countries, it is a very diverse team, but we all get along and respect each other enormously.
That is a great credit to Morgs for creating that environment and to the hierarchy.” Rashid concluded.
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