Wasim Akram confesses he used cocaine after retirement.
After retiring, Wasim Akram acknowledges he had a cocaine addiction.
In order to “replace the adrenaline rush of competition” that comes from playing cricket, Akram stated that he started using cocaine.
Wasim Akram, a former captain of Pakistan, acknowledged in his autobiography Sultan: A Memoir that he developed a cocaine addiction after quitting international cricket. Furthermore, Akram asserted that he started using cocaine as “a substitute for the adrenaline rush of competitiveness” associated with playing cricket.
After Pakistan did poorly in the 50-over World Cup, the 56-year-old, who had 916 wickets in international action, put up his cricketing cleats in May 2003. He continued to work as a coach and a pundit after he left the game.
“I like spoiling myself and going out to parties. South Asia has an all-consuming, alluring, and damaging fame culture. A night can have ten parties, and some people do. And I felt the effects of it. My technology became a vice. Worst of all, I became dependent on cocaine. According to excerpts from his book that were published in an interview, “It began innocently enough when I was offered a line at a party in England; my use grew increasingly more serious, to the point that I felt I required it to operate.
When Akram’s addiction was eventually uncovered, Huma, his first wife, reacted by saying, “You need treatment.” The former cricketer from Pakistan also spoke about how drugs changed him personally and led him to neglect his diabetes. “I became disturbed by it. I became dishonest because of that. I am aware that Huma experienced a lot of loneliness at this period. She expressed a desire to relocate to Karachi in order to be nearer to her family. I was unsure. Why? Partly because I enjoy travelling alone to Karachi and pretending that I’m there for business when I’m really just there to party for days on end.
“Huma ultimately discovered a packet of cocaine in my wallet, which is how she learned I was lying. You require aid. I concurred. It was out of control. I was unable to stop it. One line would multiply into two, two into four, four into a gramme, and a gramme into two. I had trouble falling asleep. I was unable to eat. I lost track of my diabetes, which led to migraines and mood changes in me. A part of me, like many addicts, relished the revelation since the secrecy had been draining.
After entering rehab, Akram had a bad experience there and resumed using the drug during the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. “While rehab is typically portrayed in movies as a loving, nurturing setting, this facility was harsh: it was a barren structure with five cells, a meeting area, and a kitchen. The physician was a total scam artist who focused more on controlling families than treating patients, and on separating relatives from their money than drug users.
“Despite my best efforts, I still felt some anger inside about the humiliation of what had happened to me. My pride was wounded, yet the allure of my way of life persisted. I momentarily considered getting divorced. I chose to travel to the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, where I was able to resume using while escaping Huma’s daily surveillance.
Akram observed that his addiction had vanished after Huma passed away in October 2009 from a rare fungus called mucormycosis. “Huma helped me overcome my drug addiction in his final unselfish, unintentional deed. I no longer followed that manner of living, and I have never done so.
