"Mai Cricket Chhor Doonga…"- Bharat Arun recalls how he and Ravi Shastri forced Mohammed Shami to change his retirement decision in 2018

Bharat Arun said that Mohammed Shami was dejected after failing a fitness test in 2018.

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun revealed that Mohammed Shami wanted to quit cricket in 2018; however, he and Ravi Shastri inspired him to continue his career.

India pacer Shami, who is seeking his comeback into the national team, last played for India during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in March. The right-arm pacer was the joint-highest wicket-taker for the team in the tournament.

Shami was not part of India’s test squad for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. But will be aiming to make India comeback through the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2025-26, where he is a part of the East Zone team. The 34-year-old pacer is also not part of the India squad for Asia Cup 2025.

Mohammed Shami wanted to quit cricket in 2018, reveals Bharat Arun

During a podcast with Times of India, Arun revealed that Shami wanted to quit cricket in 2018, following getting dropped from the national team and facing a crisis in his personal life. He also revealed how he and then India coach Ravi Shastri inspired Shami to continue his career.

“When Shami was going through trauma and a crisis in his personal life, Ravi (Shastri) spoke to him and told him, ‘Any support you need, please feel free to ask,” he said.

“And in 2018, just before the tour of England, we had a match against Afghanistan. Shami failed the fitness test, and he was dropped from the team. He was very dejected. He was at the peak of his personal problems as well. So he came to my room and said, ‘Paaji, mai cricket chor doonga’ (I will quit cricket),” he added.

Arun revealed that they sent Shami to National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to work on his fitness.

“I took him to Ravi. Ravi said, ‘If you are angry and you have the ball in your hand, show your anger with the ball. You want to quit cricket because your body is not fit?’, he said.

“We sent him to the NCA, and the only instruction was to work on him physically, no bowling. Three weeks after we sent him to the NCA, he called me and said: ‘Paaji, mai toh abhi ghode ki tarah bhaag raha hoon‘ (I am running like a horse),” he further added.

Meanwhile, Shami is expected to be part of the home test series against West Indies in October. His last test match was against Australia in June 2023 during ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final. Recently, Shami clarified that he has no plans to retire from international cricket in the near future.

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