Cricket News

‘I felt I needed it to function’ : Wasim Akram reveals he was addicted to cocaine post retirement

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has admitted that he was addicted to drugs in his new autobiography titled- Sultan: A Memoir. The Pakistan Legend said that said he began using cocaine while working as a television pundit around the world. The 1992 World Cup winner made the shocking revelation in an interview with the Times, according to a BBC report.

“The culture of fame in south Asia is all-consuming, seductive and corrupting,” he told the Times. “It started innocuously enough when I was offered a line at a party in England; my use grew steadily more serious, to the point that I felt I needed it to function. It made me volatile. It made me deceptive.”

However, he finally came out of it following the death of his first wife. Notably, Akram’s first wife Huma died in 2009 from a rare fungal infection.

“Huma eventually found me out, discovering a packet of cocaine in my wallet . . . ‘You need help.’ I agreed. Huma, I know, was often lonely in this time, she would talk of her desire to move to Karachi, to be nearer her parents and siblings. I was reluctant Why? Partly because I liked going to Karachi on my own, pretending it was work when it was actually about partying, often for days at a time,” Akram further said.

It was tough to revisit all the things: Wasim Akram

“Huma’s last selfless, unconscious act was curing me of my drug problem. That way of life was over, and I have never looked back. I’m a bit anxious about the book,” he said, “but I think once it is out, I’ll be kind of over it. I’m anxious because at my age, I’m 56 and I’ve been diabetic for 25 years, it is just stress, you know . . . it was tough to revisit all the things. I’ve done it for my two boys, who are 25 and 21, and my seven-year-old daughter, just to put my side of the story,” Akram added.

Wasim Akram has 414 wickets to his name in Test Cricket and 502 wickets in ODIs.