Mohammad Shami, one of the key pacers for India in all three formats of the game and since his debut in 2013, emerged as the leader of the pace attack as senior bowlers made way.
However, apart from his on-field heroics, the Bengal pacer’s career was marred by several allegations made by his estranged wife Hasin Jahan, especially in the year 2018, when the duo separated and this led to her leveling various allegations against Shami, including ones of him being involved in match-fixing.
On Cricbuzz, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma recalled the testing times of Mohammad Shami’s career when in 2018, Hasin Jahan had lodged a police complaint, leveling a series of allegations which included match-fixing, adultery, and domestic violence which led to BCCI upholding Shami's central contract.
Jahan claimed that the pacer had received money from a Pakistani woman to fix matches and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had urged BCCI to investigate the matter. Shami was later cleared of all charges.
Ishant Sharma, on the Cricbuzz show ‘Rise of New India', revealed that BCCI's ACU approached all the players of the Indian team during their investigation on Shami. He said that when the Neeraj Kumar-led unit questioned him, he told them that he was 200% sure that Shami was not involved in any kind of fixing.
"I had a word with him and he did share of lot on the topic. Whatever had happened, the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) had approached us all, and they had asked us whether Shami could do a match-fixing or not. Just like policemen lodge a complaint...I was asked everything and all was written down. I had told them, 'I don't know his personal things but I'm 200 per cent sure he can't do that because I know him that well." When he heard I said those words, he realised that what I think of him and our bond became stronger," he said.
Shami is currently part of the Indian squad which is playing Australia in the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. India won the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and 132 runs and the second match will be played in Delhi on February 17 onwards.
