"Apparently, That Is Illegal In The World, But Not In Pakistan" - Former Pakistan Skipper Wasim Akram Opens Up On His Rehab Experience

The former Pakistan captain, Wasim Akram, revealed his post-retirement cocaine addiction in his autobiography, Sultan: A Memoir. The Sultan of Swing said that he was forced to spend two and a half months in a rehab center. After retiring from international cricket in 2003, he became addicted to cocaine.

Wasim Akram is the country’s highest wicket-taker in both ODIs and Tests. Akram took 414 wickets in 104 Tests and 502 wickets in 356 One-Day Internationals. The left-arm bowler led his team to the ICC World Cup final in 1999.

I Couldn’t Socialise Without It – Wasim Akram

In an interview with The Grade Cricketer, Wasim Akram revealed how he got addicted to cocaine. The legendary fast bowler said he couldn’t socialise at any point without the drug, and when his first wife Huma found out about his addiction, she tried to convince him to go to rehab, but things didn’t go as planned.

“In England, somebody at a party said ‘you wanna try it?’ I was retired, I said ‘yea’h. Then one line became a gram. I came back to Pakistan. Nobody knew what it was but it was available. I realised, I couldn’t function without it, which means I couldn’t socialise without it. It got worse and worse. My kids were young. I was hurting my late wife a lot. We would have arguments. She said I need help,” Akram said in The Grade Cricketer podcast.

“She said there’s a rehab, you can go there. I said alright, I will go there for a month, but they kept me there for two and a half months against my will. Apparently, that is illegal in the world, but not in Pakistan. That didn’t help me. When I came out, a rebellion came into me. It’s my money, I stayed in that horrible place against my will,” he added.

It Was A Horrible Time – Wasim Akram

Speaking further about his rehabilitation experience, the 1992 World Cup winner said that he had a completely different idea of a rehab center but that what he got in Pakistan was horrible.

“In western movies, even in Australia you see rehabs have lovely big lawns, people give lectures, you go to gym. But I went to a place (in Pakistan) with a corridor and eight rooms, that’s it. It was very very tough. It was a horrible time.”

Also read: IND vs NZ: “Its A Learning Curve, We Can Introspect, Comeback With New Ideas In The Next Game” – Shreyas Iyer Says After Defeat Against New Zealand