South African paceman Wayne Parnell converts to Islam

South African pace bowler Wayne Parnell has converted to Islam due to personal reasons and will celebrate his 22nd birthday as a Muslim. Parnell also confirmed the same and said that he is looking forward to change his name to Waleed.

Parnell said, "While I still have to decide for Islamic name but I have considered the name Waleed, but for now my name remains Wayne Dillon Parnell. Currently I am playing cricket in Sussex and this is my only focus".

Wayne is the second Christian to convert into Islam after Pakistan's Yousuf Yohana (now Mohammad Yousuf) in 2006.