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Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami’s friend Umesh Kumar recently made a shocking revelation about the cricketer and opened up on the tragic time he went through personally and professionally. The Indian cricketer has faced numerous obstacles throughout his career and despite being India’s top wicket-taker in the last three ODI World Cups, his personal life has time and again kept him in the headlines.
In March 2008, Shami went through a separation from his Hasin Jahan, who filed a police complaint against him, accusing him of domestic violence and match-fixing. However, the UP-born cricketer denied all the allegations and said it was ‘an attempt to malign his image’. Things got worse for the cricketer when he found himself amid hot waters after his poor performance against Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2021. He was accused of match-fixing and became subject to religious abuse on his social media.
Mohammed Shami’s friend opens up about cricketer’s suicide attempt
Shami’s friend, Umesh Kumar, a member of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, opened up about the lowest point of Shami’s career. On Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast ‘Unplugged’, "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.”
He added, "It also came in the news that he wanted to do something drastic that night [end his life]. 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.”
Kumar went on to say, “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.”
