Shocking! Stressed Mohammed Shami contemplated suicide three times

Tags: India, Mohammed Shami Ahmed

Published on: May 04, 2020

Indian fast Mohammed Shami on Saturday finally opened up on the dark phase of his career, and revealed that he felt like committing suicide not once but thrice owing to the various personal and professional problems he was going through.

In a candid Instagram live session with teammate Rohit Sharma, the 29-year-old Bengal pacer gave credit to his family for helping him overcome the tough times. It may be recalled that back in 2018, Shami’s wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence, and also of having multiple affairs with women. Shami and his brother were even booked for domestic violence under IPC Section 498A.

"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 said while opening his heart out to Rohit during the Instagram live session.

Shami added that had it not been for the unparalleled support from his family, he might not have been able to return to the cricket field. "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. I was not thinking about cricket at all.

“We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot. 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.

The fast bowler, who claimed 17 wickets in the 2015 World Cup despite playing through a terrible knee injury, further stated that it needed 18 months for him to return to the field following the injury. "When I got injured in the 2015 World cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period. When I started playing again, I had to go through some personal issues, I think if my family did not support me I would not have made it, I also thought of committing suicide three times," Shami again reiterated.

Ever since his comeback, Shami has been one of the leading pace bowlers in the world. In fact, South African legend Dale Steyn last year stated that on current form Shami is the best pacer in international cricket.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

Related News