Hard times don’t leave anyone out. Mohammed Shami, one of India’s leading pacers, made it to the news a couple of times in the last few years following allegations on domestic violence and infidelity by his wife. After a police complaint, the player and his brother were booked under relevant sections. The BCCI was also forced to withhold all his central contracts for a year.
Two years since, Shami, one of the finest fast bowlers in the world, opened up on the incidents on Instagram. Sharing experiences from his personal and professional life, Shami spoke to his national vice-captain Rohit Sharma.
In a startling revelation, Shami shared he had contemplated committing suicide while battling his personal life issues, forcing his family to keep an eye on him. They feared that he might “jump off” from their twenty-fourth-floor apartment.
"I think, if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed in the Saturday session.
"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor, and they (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony,” he added.
"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami added.
Opening up about his days in rehab to the vice-captain the bowler shared, "Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started, and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL, and my personal problems were running high in the media."
Shami has always been close to his family and expressed that in tough times, his family was the one that stood by him rock-solid. His family supported him, not only through his breakdown but also helped him stand back on his feet.
"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot," he added.
During the chat, speaking about another painful period in his life, Shami revealed it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field after his injury during the 2015 World Cup. During the 2019 World Cup, he was one of India's stars and also bagged a hat-trick in the tournament.
