Ind vs Eng: Adil Rashid gets Hajj leave, to miss India series

LONDON: English player Adil Rashid has been allowed to perform Hajj by the cricket authorities, ESPNcricinfo reported Thursday.

The spinner will miss England's white-ball series against India and the latter stages of Yorkshire's T20 Blast campaign due to the pilgrimage next month.

Adil Rashid, a practising Muslim, will fly to Makkah on Saturday and is expected to return in mid-July, ahead of England's white-ball series against South Africa, the publication reported.

"I've been wanting to do it for a little while but I've found it pretty difficult with the timings," Rashid told the website.

"This year, I felt as though it was something that I had to do, and something I wanted to do as well,” he said, adding he spoke to the ECB and to Yorkshire about it and they were very understanding and encouraging.

"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."

Rashid will miss six games against India from July 7 to 17 and clarified that playing against India was not the reason behind this decision. "That didn't really cross my mind. It was purely: right, I'm going - the decision was irrelevant of cricket, in that sense."

The cricketer also credited Eoin Morgan and the England hierarchy with creating a "very supportive" environment for him and his Muslim team-mates Moeen Ali and Saqib Mahmood.