Bengaluru, March 23: Spotlight has been on Mohammed Shami for all the wrong reasons for nearly a month now. Shami's wife Hasin Jahan has levelled multifarious charges ranging from adultery and domestic violence to match-fixing on him.
But on Thursday (March 22), Shami received a speck of relief as the BCCI included him in the Grade B annual contract, which was withheld after Jahan raised match fixing allegations, worth Rs 3 crore.
Understandably, Shami was a relieved man. "The last couple of weeks have been really mentally taxing and tiring. I have not gone through anything like that. Worse of all, it was hurting to see my commitment to the country was getting questioned. I will never do such a thing," Shami told Mykhel.
"Yes. Now, I am a relieved person and hopefully I can return to India team in the next available opportunity," he said.
Shami's next chance to turn up for India will be the Test against Afghanistan in June in Bengaluru but before that there will be IPL for him. After securing the BCCI clean chit, Shami is now eligible to play for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
"I am looking forward to donning the Daredevils colours in the IPL. In fact, I am so raring to step on to a cricket field and play. I will resume training soon and the truth has prevailed thanks to BCCI and the quick investigation," said Shami.
"It was tiring days especially because there was no truth in the allegations and I have all the evidence to support my innocence. BCCI withholding my contract actually never really worried as I was confident that an inquiry will bring out the truth," said Shami.
Though the BCCI has cleared Shami of corruption charges, some more cases are pending against him such as domestic violence. Jahan had lodged complained against Shami and his family members with the Kolkata Police and is expected to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday (March 23).
However, Shami remained confident. "I am not thinking about further legal matters now as my focus is on playing cricket again. I have full faith in the country's judiciary and I have all the evidence to support my claims. I know truth will prevail just as it happened in the BCCI investigation," he said.