‘Somebody at a party said, ‘You wanna try it?”- Pakistan legend Wasim Akram opens up about his struggle with cocaine
Wasim Akram is arguably one of the greatest bowlers the game of cricket has ever seen. Having taken 916 wickets for Pakistan, Akram has already written his name among the very best of cricketers.
The former Pakistan player now works as a commentator and analyst for the game and enjoys his life close to the sport. In his latest book, Akram has opened up about his struggle with cocaine. The book titled Sultan: A Memoir reveals that Akram got addicted to cocaine after retirement and had to go to rehabilitation.
“In England, somebody at a party said ‘you wanna try it?’ I was retired, I said ‘yeah. Then one line became a gram. I came back to Pakistan. Nobody knew what it was but it was available. I realised, I couldn’t function without it, which means I couldn’t socialise without it. It got worse and worse. My kids were young. I was hurting my late wife a lot,“ revealed Akram.
“We would have arguments. She said I need help. She said there’s a rehab, you can go there. I said alright I will go there for a month but they kept me there for two and a half months against my will. Apparently, that is illegal in the world but not in Pakistan. That didn’t help me. When I came out, a rebellion came into me. It’s my money, I stayed in that horrible place against my will,” Wasim Akram revealed in The Grade Cricketer podcast.
“In western movies, even in Australia you see rehabs have lovely big lawns, people give lectures, you go to gym. But I went to a place (in Pakistan) with a corridor and eight rooms, that’s it. It was very very tough. It was a horrible time,” he added.
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