LONDON: England Leg spinner Adil Rashid has announced that he will perform the Hajj this year and will miss out upcoming England’s ODI and T20 series against India.

Rashid is set to depart for Saudi Arabia on Saturday along with his spouse to make the Hajj pilgrimage and will be unavailable for his country as well as his county, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, for the next few weeks.

England Cricket Board and Yorkshireshire CCC have granted permission to Rashid to make the hajj pilgrimage.

“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,” said Rashid as reported by the Espncricinfo website.

While discussing his desire to undertake a holy journey, he disclosed that as a Muslim, he had committed himself to do so because it is one of the most important obligations as defined by Islam.

“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 asserted that the whole team respected him and his Muslim teammates, Moeen Ali and Saqib Mahmood, for their faith. He credited England skipper Eoin Morgan and the team management for creating a supportive environment.

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