"Standing on 19th floor balcony...": Mohammed Shami's friend recalls when pacer contemplated suicide around 4 AM

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami went through a horrendous time when he was investigated by Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) over match-fixing allegations. His estranged wife Hasin Jahan had accused Shami of match-fixing after taking money from a Pakistani woman. While Shami was cleared of those allegations by the authorities, one of his friends has now revealed that Shami contemplated suicide during that time.

On Shubhankar Mishra's podcast, Shami’s friend Umesh Kumar recalled when Shami was on the balcony contemplating suicide very early in the morning.

"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," Umesh Kumar said on the podcast.

"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. That night of Shami's career, I feel, was the longest."

Mohammed Shami has been away from Team India due to injury since the ODI World Cup 2023.

On Tuesday, Shami gave a positive update on his fitness. He took to Instagram to post a few photos of himself in the nets.

"Ball in hand and obsession in my heart, ready to turn the game," wrote Shami in the caption.

Shami is currently at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.