Indian pacer Mohammed Shami's central contract was today withheld by the BCCI after his wife accused him of domestic violence and adultery, charges that were denied by the cricketer. Shami's name was not there in the list of 26 contracted players released by the BCCI on Wednesday despite his starring role in India's only Test win in the recent tour of South Africa.
This led to speculation about the reasons for his omission and a top BCCI official said that the Board has held back his name owing to the charges levelled by his wife Hasin Jahan. "Mohammed Shami's name, for the time being, has been withheld from the central contracts that were announced today. We would like to reiterate this decision has nothing to do with Shami's merit as a player but it is a safeguard in the prevailing circumstances," the official said.
Jahan posted screenshots of Shami's alleged WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger conversations with multiple women on her Facebook account.
She also uploaded photos and phone numbers of the women. Hasin Jahan alleged that Shami, 27, and members of his family had even tried to kill her. "Everyone in their family used to torture me. His mother and brother used to abuse me. The tortures continued till 2-3 am in the morning. They even wanted to kill me," she alleged.
"He even abused me and started beating me. All this continued after he returned from South Africa. He has been doing this for quite some time now and now I have had enough," she said.
Shami, however, denied the allegations, saying it was an attempt to derail his cricket career.
The cricketer hails from Uttar Pradesh and represents Bengal in domestic tournaments.
"Hi I'm Mohammad Shami. Ye jitna bhi news hamara personal life ke bare may chal raha hai, ye sab sarasar jhut hai, ye koi bahut bada humare khilap sajish hai or ye mujhe badnam karne or mera game kharab karne ka kosis ki ja rahi hai (I deny all that is going on regarding my personal life. This is a conspiracy against me and it is being done to hamper my game)," Shami tweeted.