Sultan: A Memoir: Wasim Akram admits to cocaine addiction in his autobiography

Wasim Akram has admitted to his post-retirement cocaine addiction in his upcoming autobiography Sultan: A Memoir, it emerges on Saturday.

The cricketer-turned-commentator had a long struggle with drug addiction which finally ended after his first wife’s death in 2009.

Read more: A biopic on ‘Sultan of Swing’ Wasim Akram is in the works!

The cricket website, ESPNcricinfo quoted Pakistan’s former Test captain Wasim Akram from his book as saying:

“I liked to indulge myself; I liked to party. 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 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,” the Sultan of Swing revealed.

“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,” he wrote.

 

Wasim Akram’s autobiography Sultan: A Memoir will be out soon.

It is written by Patrick Murphy with the contribution of the cricketer himself.

Akram, 56, is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.

Several critics regard him as the greatest left-arm fast bowler in cricket history.

The left-arm pacer has 414 Test wickets and 502 ODI wickets to his credit.

Akram’s 18-year-long cricket career ended in 2003.