Pakistan Cricket Team’s former captain and the famous ICC commentator, Wasim Akram has admitted to being addicted to cocaine in his autobiography titles ‘Sultan: A Memoir’.
Akram admits that after leaving international cricket when he retired, he turned to cocaine for as “a substitute for the adrenaline rush of competition” as he missed the feeling of playing cricket.
The cricketer went on to become a commentator and a coach after his retirement in 2003 that came after the World Cup where Pakistan had poor performance.
An extract from his autobiography says, “I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party. 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 cocaine dependence. 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.”.
The 56-year-old also talks about how his first wife, Huma, found out about his problem and recommended that he should see a professional about it. Wasim also admits how his addiction caused him to ignore his diabetes and affected him as a person, “It made me agitated. It caused me to be deceitful. I know Huma was often lonely during this time… she talked of wanting to move to Karachi to be closer to her parents and siblings. I was hesitant. Why? Partly because I like coming to Karachi on my own and pretending it was working when it was really about partying for days on end.”.
“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, and 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 many addicts, part of me welcomed discovery: the secrecy had been exhausting.”
Although Akram decided to got to rehab, he did not have a pleasant experience there which caused a relapse and he turned to the drugs again during the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
Akram reveals that he was only able to leave his addiction finally after the death of his first wife in 2009, “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.”
Talking about his negative experience at the rehab, Wasim says, “Movies portray rehab as a caring, nurturing environment, but this facility was brutal: an empty building with five cells, a meeting room, and a kitchen. The doctor was a complete con man who worked primarily on manipulating families rather than treating patients and separating relatives from money rather than drug users.”
