One of the best pacer in current scenario, Mohammad Shami’s friend revealed that the fast bowler tried to commit suicide when charged with fixing allegations.
Shami was the highest wicket-taker in the 2023 ODI World Cup and after that he went for his surgery and is yet to make his comeback to the national side. He constantly posts videos and clips for his fitness training on social media.
He has seen many ups and down in his personal life. Firstly he got separated from his wife in 2018, after his wife charged him with physical violence and adultery. His wife, Hasin Jahan, cornered him from meeting with his only daughter Aaira Shami. He was also accused of having an extramarital affair by Hasin.
From all these rough patches in the pacer’s life was going on one after the other and he dealed those situations with bravery. But his ex-wife told the media that he was involved in match-fixing, this shattered him from inside. He tried to commit suicide from the 19th floor.
Recently in a podcast with Shubhankar Mishra, Shami’s friend, Umesh Kumar revealed the whole incident of that day. He said,
“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. He said that I can tolerate everything but not allegations of betraying my country.
It also came in the news that he wanted to do something drastic that night (commit the suicide). 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. 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.”
After that in the podcast when the Indian pacer was asked how he managed to deal with all these, he replied,
“It depends on what you prioritise more and then on the other person on how true his/her statements are. So when you know that the other person's actions are invalid and not important to you, you should not leave your priorities. 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.”