Mohammad Shami, the Indian pacer, opened up about thinking about taking his own life to end it all, but didn’t go through with it. He said that he owed it to the game of cricket, which has given him everything, and he decided to continue playing, eventually leading the 2023 ICC World Cup wicket-taking list.
Revealing his thoughts in the episode of Aap Ki Adalat with Rajat Sharma, the Indian star pacer said, "Socha zaroor, par hua nahin, yeh shukr hai varna World Cup miss ho jata mere sey, kyunki jab wo thought aaya tha mere dimaag mein ki yeh time hai life ke end ka, jis cheez ke liye mujhe itna naam diya, jis cheez ke liye media mere pichhe hai, usko chhod ke is jump ke chakkar mein... Woh thought, woh pyaar yaad aayin. Socha chalo isko choodo, chalo game me lagte hain phir...
(The thought came to my mind, but it did not happen, thank God, otherwise I'd have missed the World Cup… The thought came to my mind to end my life, but then I decided, "This game, which gave me so much name, why should I jump (to death), forgetting all this?" I thought of the love and affection. Then I decided, forget this and focus on my game.
The Calcutta High Court ordered Shami to provide his daughter and estranged wife, Hasin Jahan, with a monthly maintenance payment of Rs 4 lakh in July of this year. The daughter would receive Rs 2.50 lakh every month, while Jahan will be required to pay Rs 1.50 lakh. In 2014, Jahan, a former model, wed Mohammed Shami.
In 2015, the couple welcomed a daughter. Hasin Jahan and Mohammed Shami split up in 2018 after she accused him of domestic abuse.
"Bad things are spoken about, but nowadays those things are spoken about which do not exist… I am most scared of that. Yesterday, I was looking at a photograph, and I didn't know when I had taken it. The number of allegations that have been levelled against me in the last 6-7 years—maybe even a terrorist would not have had so many allegations levelled against them. I cannot do anything in this,” Shami said about the abusive things that were said about him and the allegations of domestic abuse against him.
The cricket player was accused of domestic assault by Hasin Jahan in 2018. She had accused Shami and his family of harassing her in a plea that she had filed in the Alipore court. To support the family, Jahan had asked the pacer for Rs 7 lakh a month.
Mohammad Shami last played for India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and last played Tests in 2023 in the WTC final against Australia. He missed the England Test tour due to fitness concerns, and it remains to be seen if Shami gets called for the home series against the West Indies and the white-ball series against Australia.
(ANI inputs)
