Former cricketer Wasim Akram opens up about his drug addiction in his biography ‘Sultan’. In his interview with The Times, he says he has penned down his journey of getting into addiction and then towards rehabilitation.
Wasim said he was addicted to cocaine and how the addiction took a toll on his life. “I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party,” he wrote in the book. “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,” said Wasim in the interview.
He further penned, “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.”
He credits his former wife Huma for helping him to get over with cocaine addiction. “Huma, I know, was often lonely at 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 working when it was actually about partying, often for days at a time,” said Wasim while describing how he treated his wife Huma.
Huma eventually found out, he revealed, “She discovered 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 a lot of addicts, part of me welcomed discovery: the secrecy had been exhausting.”
Wasim also recalled the process of his rehabilitation and called it a distressing experience. Huma eventually found out, he revealed, “She discovered 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 a lot of addicts, part of me welcomed discovery: the secrecy had been exhausting.” Wasim says he relapsed following a brief recovery.
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Wasim said it was the death of his wife Huma that unconsciously made him quit drugs. . “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,” said Wasim in his book.
Wasim says he has written this book for his sons from his first marriage and a seven-year-old daughter from his second marriage. His biography consists of incidents from his professional and personal life.