Rashid seeks the bigger picture after Kashmir visit

England’s leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who was ruled out for the summer immediately after the World Cup due to shoulder injury, has spent his rehabilitation time visiting the earthquake affected areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Rashid, whose parents were born in AJK, found a new perspective after helping the charity Islamic Relief in an effort to alleviate the problems of the local residents after the earthquake on September 24 wreaked havoc and caused the death of 40 locals while leaving 800 injured.

 “My parents were born there so Kashmir is close to my heart. There was a lot of destruction and at the time I was doing my rehab so it was the perfect opportunity for me to go and see how bad the damage was and for me to actually give a helping hand,” Rashid told the BBC’s Test Match Special.

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The 31-year-old highlighted that alleviating human suffering was more important than the sport.

“It does put things in perspective. That’s life and death. Our problems are playing a game we enjoy – you have a good day, you have a bad day but that does put things in perspective. There is a bigger picture out there than just sport,” he said.

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The leg-spinner tried to help the charity through donations and also participated in relief activities being conducted in the region.

“There are a few projects from the UK helping out there I know and there’s one called Islamic Relief that I’m close to. They were giving first aid and kit. So I just helped out – handing out kit and going around seeing the areas that were damaged,” he said. “Myself being a World Cup winner perhaps helps with the profile of the charity but the aim wasn’t for me to raise the profile.”