Pakistan's wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan alongside his family members has departed for his Hajj journey from Islamabad.
According to the sources, Rizwan will perform Hajj with his mother and wife this year. The latter started the journey last night.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had already exempted Rizwan from attending the ongoing training camp in Lahore. The cricketer will join the training camp in Karachi in first week of July ahead of Sri Lanka Test tour.
Apart from Rizwan, Pakistan team skipper Babar Azam is also going for Hajj alongside his mother. The skipper will leave for his spiritual journey soon.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Mufti Abdul Shakoor, in March, said that 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims would perform Hajj this year.
Earlier this year in Ramadan, Babar, Iftikhar, Faheem, and Haris Rauf followed by other national cricketers performed Umrah.
Pakistan will play the next international series in mid-July. They will go to Sri Lanka for playing two Tests.
PCB today announced 16-member squad for the series. Young Mohammad Hurraira and Aamer Jamal got their maiden Test call-up. Shaheen Shah Afridi returns to Test squad as Pakistan are all set to start the third cycle of the ICC World Test Championship next month in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan squad
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood
Expected schedule
First Test – July 16-20
Second Test – July 24-28