Mohammed Shami recounts his depressing days post knee injury

India’s premier pace bowler Mohammed Shami spoke openly about the depressing days he spent while recovering from a knee injury. The fast bowler also conceded that he had thought of committing suicide thrice because of his personal issues. The 29-year old opened up on the dark phase of his life while chatting with Rohit Sharma on an Instagram live session.

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Shami finished the 2015 World Cup in Australia with 17 wickets in 7 matches, making him the 4th highest wicket-taker of the tournament. However, he had bowled with knee injury plaguing him. The aggravated injury forced the bowler out of the action for 18 months and the layoff took a severe toll on his mental health.

“When I got injured in the 2015 World cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful time in my life, it was a very stressful period,” Shami said.

Even after gaining his fitness back, Shami’s woes continued on other fronts. “When I started playing again, I had to go through family problems. That was going on and then I had a car accident. I think that accident happened 10 or 12 days before the IPL (2018). And my family problems were high in the media.”

“At that time I think if my family would not have supported me, I would have lost my cricket. During that phase, believe it or not, I thought of committing suicide three times. That was the level of stress I had in my head. It was a lot. I wasn’t thinking about cricket,” Shami revealed.

Rising like a phoenix, Shami made a spectacular return to international cricket. Shami then earned his place in all three formats for the national side and even staked claims at being the best bowler in the world in the longest format.