Adil Rashid has revealed he is set to miss England 's six white ball matches against India next month after being granted leave to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Rashid is a practicing Muslim and is set to fly out on Saturday to make the pilgrimage, something every adult Muslim should do at least once in their lifetime provided they are physically and financially able to.
As a result, the 34-year-old looks set to miss England's T20I and ODI series against India, as well as the latter stages of Yorkshire 's T20 Blast campaign. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Rashid said: "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. 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."
And Rashid praised both England and Yorkshire for being "very understanding" about the situation. "It wasn't like, right, I'm playing against India - I'd better not go," he added."
"That didn't really cross my mind. 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."
