"Thought of committing suicide three times" - When Mohammad Shami poured his heart out to Rohit Sharma

Indian seamer Mohammad Shami has arguably been one of the best fast bowlers this country has ever had. The right-arm seamer delivered the goods for India across formats when it mattered. However, there was a time when Shami went through a dark phase and revealed it in detail to Rohit Sharma.

During a live session on Instagram with Sharma, the veteran admitted to thinking of committing suicide at least three times due to stress and personal problems. The 31-year old credited his family for steering his focus back to cricket.

The right-arm fast bowler stated:

"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."

He added:

"They were scared I might jump from the balcony. My 2-3 friends [sic] 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."

The Bengal cricketer also recalled meeting with an accident 10 to 12 days before the IPL.

"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."

The Amroha-born player is currently one of India's first-choice bowlers in Test cricket. His consistent performances at home and away are one of the significant reasons behind India dominating Test cricket. In 60 Tests, he has picked up 216 scalps at 27.46 apiece.

Mohammed Shami to miss 2022 Asia Cup

Mohammed Shami in action in an ODI against England. (Credits: Getty)

Meanwhile, the selectors have not picked Shami for the upcoming Asia Cup, starting on August 27 in the UAE. Instead, the Men in Blue will have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, and Arshdeep Singh leading their seam-bowling unit.

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra questioned his omission, saying that the Gujarat Titans bowler deserved to get picked as his IPL numbers are great. In contrast, Ricky Ponting felt India had better bowlers in the T20s than him.

India will begin their campaign against Pakistan on August 28 in Dubai.