‘Felt I needed it to function’: Pakistan legend Wasim Akram opens up on cocaine addiction

Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram has opened up on his serious cocaine addiction following the end of his playing career, which only came to an end after the death of his first wife in 2009.

WWOS’ reported Pakistan’s all-time leading Test and one-day international wicket-taker lifted the lid on his battle with addiction in his autobiography Sultan: A Memoir, which will be released on November 10.

Extracts from his book, detailed Akram’s cocaine abuse, which he used as “a substitute for the adrenaline rush of competition”.

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“I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party,” Akram wrote in his Autobiography.

“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 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 revealed he underwent rehabilitation but had a horror experience due to a conman’s interest in money rather than aiding recovery.

“Try as I might, part of me was still smouldering inside about the indignity of what I’d been put through,” Akram wrote.

“My pride was hurt, and the lure of my lifestyle remained. I briefly contemplated divorce.

“I settled for heading to the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy where, out from under Huma’s daily scrutiny, I started using again.”

However Huma’s death in October 2009, caused by a rare fungal infection, finally led to Akram quitting drugs for good.

“That way of life was over, and I have never looked back,” Akram wrote.