Wasim Akram drops explosive ‘cocaine addiction’ in his autobiography
Follow Us
Wasim Akram
Former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram has made major revelations in his autobiography Sultan: A Memoir, which is set to be released on November 10. He opened up about how he became addicted to drug cocaine while working as a coach and commentator after calling off his cricketing career in 2003.
Extracts from the book alongside an interview published in The Times, revealing how he started off with the addiction as a substitute for the adrenaline rush of competition and gave it up following the death of his first wife Hume in 2009. “I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party,” Akram’s autobiography reads.
“I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party,” he writes. “The culture of fame in south Asia is all consuming, seductive and corrupting. You can go to ten parties a night, and some do. And it took its toll on me. My devices turned into vices. Worst of all, I developed a dependence on cocaine. 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. 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.
Huma helped Wasim Akram leave the addiction
“Huma eventually found me out, discovering a packet of cocaine in my wallet . . . ‘You need help.’ I agreed. It was getting out of hand. I couldn’t control it. One line would become two, two would become four; four would become a gram, a gram would become two. I could not sleep. I could not eat. I grew inattentive to my diabetes, which caused me headaches and mood swings. Like a lot of addicts, part of me welcomed discovery: the secrecy had been exhausting.”
Akram said that he left the addiction following the death of first wife Huma in October 2009 from a rare fungal infection called mucormycosis. “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.”
Later on, the legendary figure remarried and has three children, two sons from Huma and a daughter from his second wife. Akram regularly travels all over the world for different coaching and commentary work. He is regarded as one of the best pacers the game has ever produced.
Read More: ‘No need to say more’ – AB de Villiers reacts to Dewald Brevis’ 162 in CSA T20 Challenge
Stay Updated!
Wansh Agarwal
(140 Articles Published)