Ex-Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram created a stir around the cricketing world on Saturday as he revealed being addicted to cocaine in the past. The Pakistan legend opened up on indulging in drug abuse in his capacity as a broadcaster and commentator following the end of his playing career.
Wasim said he was addicted to the banned substance till the passing of his first wife Huma back in 2009. Huma took her last breath following the battle with a rare fungal infection, but not before she helped the former Pakistan skipper overcome his drug consumption habit.
“The culture of fame in South Asia is all-consuming, seductive, and corrupting. You can go to 10 parties a night, and some do. And it took its toll on me,”
Wasim was quoted as saying by BBC in a honest confession.
“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.”
Wasim, one of the greatest-ever cricketers to have played the sport, said he developed a dependence on cocaine to survive while travelling away from Huma and his two sons, who lived in Manchester. He said his consumption began when he was offered “one line” in England and from there it “grew steadily” into a serious problem.
He also revealed Huma would often talk of her desire to move to Karachi where her parents and siblings lived. But he would deny.
“Why? Partly because I liked going to Karachi on my own, pretending it was working when it was actually about partying, often for days at a time.”
He said the moment he was honest enough to confess to his wife the problem he was going through, she provided him with all the necessary help and made sure he went to a rehabilitation facility in Lahore. But he fell back into the habit during the 2009 Champions Trophy, which he covered in South Africa as a pundit.
The legendary quick realises now that it was the need to feel the adrenaline rush that he missed post-retirement that attracted him towards drug abuse.
