Rehan Ahmed will MISS multiple County Championship games for Leicestershire this month as spin prodigy heads on pilgrimage to Mecca - but teenager will be back for England duty in May

Rehan Ahmed will miss multiple County Championship matches for Leicestershire to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca this month.

England leg-spinner Ahmed is featuring in the opening fixture for the Foxes against Yorkshire at Headingley, scoring 28 on the opening day, but will be absent for the Division Two encounters versus Sussex and Derbyshire, and possibly for Northamptonshire’s visit to Grace Road too.

The 19-year-old is a practising Muslim and has been given the blessing of his county bosses and the England management to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah.

Ahmed, who featured in three Tests of the recent series in India including the win in Hyderabad before returning home for personal reasons, is not the first England international to place their faith ahead of playing commitments during the domestic home season.

Two years ago, Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid missed some of the Vitality Blast and half a dozen white-ball internationals against India to make the Hajj - the pilgrimage all adult followers of Islam are expected to undertake at least once in their lifetime, if they are physically capable and have the financial means to do so.

Moeen Ali performed umrah during winter months in both 2009 and 2017, and credited the inspirational experience as having positive effects on his performances.

Hajj takes places in June, clashing with the Twenty20 World Cup of which Ahmed will hope to be a part.

He is due to be back from the Middle East well ahead of England’s white-ball commitments in May, including a squad get-together and four-match home series against Pakistan preparing them for their world title defence.