For someone like a Wasim Akram, the leading wicket-taker of a nation in ODIs and Tests which has always had the knack of consistently producing promising and quality fast bowlers, life after his retirement might well seem like everything a common man ever ideally desires for.
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However, the common man is not always versed that fame, popularity, and the riches do have its by-products as well more often than not which only comes to light when that particular person unravels this particular aspect of his/her life in public.
The ‘Sultan of swing’, the fierce and legendary left-arm pacer Wasim Akram has now opened up before the public some of the pages of his life after his retirement from the sport in the year 2003.
As per the now 56-year-old, the 18-year illustrious international Cricketing career was followed by a period of cocaine drug addiction, which only ended after the death of his first wife Huma Akram in 2009.
$25 million net worth Wasim Akram reveals struggles during rehab made difficult by a con man doctor
The drug addiction chapter of Akram’s life has been revealed by the man himself in his upcoming autobiography Sultan: A Memoir, the experts of which have been disclosed by The Times via an interview.
An innocuous thrill, which begun as a substitute for the crave for “adrenaline rush of competition” post retirement during a party in England, snowballed into a serious addiction, which made Akram believe that his entire life became dependent on that substance.
The process led him to attend parties one after the other, particularly in the cities of Karachi at the pretense of work.
“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,” revealed Akram in his autobiography.
A con man doctor makes the situation worse
Akram’s late first wife Huma Akram, eventually found out about her husband’s addiction, when she discovered a packet of cocaine in his wallet.
A diabetic as well, the former left-arm pacer had to agree to his wife’s insistence to see an expert/doctor and begin with the rehab process to get rid of the addiction.
However, as fate would have it, the doctor turned out to be a con man, who motive was to con people for their money, and everything but the treatment of his patients. The rehab process ultimately relapsed, and Akram found himself back to square one.
The 56-year-old then reveals that during his commentary stint later at the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, the intense scrutiny from his wife Huma each day, had meant that he became an addict yet again.
Ultimately, the addiction did flush out of his system, after the death of his wife, who passed away in October 2009 from the rare fungal infection 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,” remarked Akram.
