Thrice I Thought of Committing Suicide: Mohammed Shami

During a shocking revelation, India's speedster Mohammed Shami revealed that he was thinking about committing suicide three times when dealing with personal problems a few years back, prompting his family to hold an eye on him at all times.

He said his family members feared that he might "jump" from their apartment on the 24th floor.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, revealed his personal and professional life during an Instagram talk with teammate and limited-time vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think that if my family hadn't helped me back then I might have ruined my game. I was thinking about committing suicide three times during that era because of extreme tension and personal issues," Shami said during Saturday's session.

Now one of the mainstays of an Indian bowling assault through styles, the 29-year-old was unable to concentrate on cricket.

"I didn't think of cricket at all. We were staying on the 24th floor. They (family) were afraid that I would fall from the balcony. My brother helped me a lot.

"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," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"And my father clarified that any issue has a remedy no matter how huge the issue is. My brother helped me a lot."

Speaking about another difficult time in his life following his injury at the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the pitch.

"After I was hurt in the 2015 World Cup, it took me 18 months to completely heal, it was the most traumatic time of my career, that was a really difficult era.