Mohammed Shami is a classic case of an Indian cricket talent, who rose from a small town to the highest echelons of the sport. Hailing from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, Mohammed Shami never had it easy. But he played state level cricket for Bengal before making it big in the Indian cricket team. Mohammed Shami was one of the finest performers at the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023. With 24 wickets, the Indian cricket team fast bowler was the most successful bowler at the Cricket World Cup.
However, there was a phase where Mohammed Shami wanted to die by suicide. In 2020, he revealed in an instagram live chat with Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma about that phase.
“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,” Mohammed Shami had said then.
“They were scared I might jump from the balcony. 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.”
On Wednesday, Mohammed Shami was asked if he still thinks about that phase.
“You had said that ‘there was a phase in my life, where I wanted to die by suicide’. Do you now look back and think what really happened that you made such a big statement?” Mohammed Shami was asked by the anchor on Aaj Tak.
“Now, I don’t think about it. I don’t have any need to think. very person goes thorugh such pahse. I think now that it was such a bad phase. It was a bad time. I don’t think about that phase. I live in today,” Mohammed Shami replied.
Recently, Mohammed Shami opened up in detail about his ‘disturbed’ phase.
“Aapke life mein bahut difficult times bhi rahe hai. You have talked openly about mental health. It’s a good thing. Jab aap mental health ke uss daur se guzar rahe the, thode issues the, aapke life ka difficult time tha, to aapke andar kya chal raha tha uss time pe (What were thinking when you were going through difficult times, when you had issues)?” the anchor asked Mohammed Shami in an interview on an YouTube channel.
“Shuru main to bahut difficult tha, because mere family mein aisa kuch hua hi nahi. Koi jhamela nahi. (It was tough in the beginning because nothing of such sort has happened in my life). We have a simple family. It was difficult time, stressful time,” Mohammed Shami replied.
“Agar aap jhoothe ho to aap bhagoge, aapko pata hai. Agar aapko lagta hai ki aap galat ho to aap aankh hi nahi milaoge. Maine bola thik hai aur lagaane do bhai. Jo sach hai woh mil jayega aapko. Maine bola kahaan bulana hai mujhe kahaan aana hai. Sari cheez dekh li (If your are a liar you will run away. I always believed that truth will come out. I told I will go anywhere I am called. I have seen everything).”
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