In the past, Mohammad Shami had spoken about the period when he considered suicide to end his miserable time, but never went on to open up about the time as deep as his childhood friend Umesh Kumar. The Indian pacer has enjoyed a fair share of highs and lows in his life so far.
Mohammad Shami enjoyed the highest of highs playing for the national team when he was part of the Indian team that won the Test series in Australia in 2018 and went close to winning the same in South Africa and England. The blue brigade did so well in last year’s ODI World Cup 2023, where they finished as the runners-up.
He is India’s leading wicket-taker in the history of 50-over World Cups and also became the fastest to complete 100 wickets in this format of the game. But he also faced the lows with injuries and off the field with the personal turmoil involving his ex-wife, who went away from the Indian pacer.
‘I saw that he was standing on his balcony’- Mohammad Shami’s friend
There were reports of complaints against Mohammad Shami for domestic violence, which led the board to cancel his central contract for some time. The phase was the darkest in his career which almost forced him to end his life.
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In the recent podcast on YouTube, called ‘Unplugged’, by Shubhankar Mishra, the childhood friend of Mohammad Shami, Umesh Kumar narrated how the fixing allegations on the fast bowler during the 2021 T20 World Cup tolerated him the most.
‘Shami was fighting with everything during that phase. He lived with me in my house. But when the fixing allegations with Pakistan broke, and led to a probe that night, he was shattered.’ Umesh Kumar expressed this during the interview. ‘He said that I can tolerate everything but not allegations of betraying my country.’
He recalled the time when at dawn he saw Shami standing on the balcony of the 19th floor, as he was just a distance away from taking the biggest wrong decision of his life.
‘It also came in the news that he wanted to do something drastic that night [end his life]. It was around 4 AM in the morning when I got up to drink water. I was on my way to the kitchen when I saw that he was standing on the balcony. It was the 19th floor we were living in.’ Mohammad Shami’s friend remarked in the interaction.
‘I understood what happened. That night of Shami’s career, I feel, was the longest. Later, one day, when we were talking, he got a message on his phone saying he got a clean chit from the committee that was investigating the matter. He was probably happier that day than he would have been if he had won a World Cup.’ Umesh Kumar added.
Since then, Mohammad Shami made a great comeback with the white-ball in hand, as he finished as the highest wicket-taker of the ODI World Cup 2023, with 24 wickets in seven innings, at an average of under 11, and a strike rate of 12.20. His economy of 5.26 was quite fabulous, besides him going on to pick three five-wicket hauls.
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The Indian pacer, who was present on the panel as well, explained how he went on to fight with the allegations.
‘If I had not been the Mohammed Shami, I am today, no one would have cared about my situation, and neither would the media be interested in it. Then why should I leave the thing that made me Shami. So you have to keep fighting.’ Mohammad Shami concluded.
He is currently removing from his ankle injury, and eyes to make a comeback during the home Test series against Bangladesh.