Charles beard, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Opera House, London

London, June 23 Legspinner Adil Rashid will miss England's white-ball series against India and the latter stages of Yorkshire's T20 Blast campaign in order to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.The 34-year old Rashid, a practicing Muslim decided earlier this year that he had reached the right time in his life to make the pilgrimage, and has been granted leave by the ECB and Yorkshire. He will fly to the Middle East on Saturday and is expected to return in mid-July, ahead of England's white-ball 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. This year, I felt as though it was something that I had to do, and something I wanted to do as well," Rashid told ESPNcricinfo."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.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 against India from July 7 to 17 but said the schedule was not a major consideration in his decision."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 said."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 likely to give Matt Parkinson an opportunity to play in the limited-overs series against India, after he made his Test debut against New Zealand earlier this month as a concussion replacement for Jack Leach.Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Charles BeardFOLLOW

Charles beard, Latest News

London, June 25 Singer-actress Lady Gaga, diver Tom Daley and the first all-male 'Strictly Come Dancing' couple were ... ...

Oslo, June 25 Two people were killed and several others severely injured during a shooting at a nightclub ... ...

London, June 24 Wimbledon will give Ukrainian refugees free tickets to the tournament and donate 250,000 pounds ($307,100) ... ...

London, June 24 The amount of electricity consumed by the largest cryptocurrency networks has decreased by up to ... ...

London, June 24 Former England skipper Michael Vaughan feels former India captain Virat Kohli is not in the ... ...

London, June 24 Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said that while it is early days in Ben ... ...

Dubai, June 24 Dubais successful tourism rebound continues to inspire global tourism recovery with the city welcoming 6.17 ... ...

London, June 23 Legspinner Adil Rashid will miss England's white-ball series against India and the latter stages of ... ...