Wasim Akram reveals he got addicted to cocaine after retirement
New Delhi, Oct 29: Pakistan pace great Wasim Akram has revealed he developed a cocaine addiction after his retirement from the game but quit following the death of his first wife in 2009.
The 56-year-old has opened up about his dependency on cocaine in his upcoming autobiography 'Sultan: A Memoir.'
Pakistan's leading wicket-taker in both Test and ODI cricket said he started to crave "a substitute for the adrenaline rush of competition" when he was travelling away from his first wife Huma.
"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," Akram told the Times.
"It made me volatile. It made me deceptive. Huma, I know, was often lonely in 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 work when it was actually about partying, often for days at a time."
Widely regarded as one of the best bowlers of all times, Akram made his international debut in 1985, playing 104 Tests and 356 ODIs for Pakistan. He picked 414 Test wickets and 502 ODI wickets.
"Huma eventually found me out, discovering 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, 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."
Akram went for rehab but his experience with the doctor was all but pleasant, resulting in a relapse.
"The doctor was a complete con man, who worked primarily on manipulating families rather than treating patients, on separating relatives from money rather than users from drugs," he said.
"Try as I might, part of me was still smouldering inside about the indignity of what I'd been put through. My pride was hurt, and the lure of my lifestyle remained.
"I briefly contemplated divorce. I settled for heading to the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy where, out from under Huma's daily scrutiny, I started using again."
However, the legendary pacer, who continues to take up commentary and coaching assignments around the world, said he eventually stopped after Huma's sudden death from a rare fungal infection in 2009.
"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 added.
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Mere breakup not enough for abetment to suicide: Delhi HC
New Delhi (PTI): Merely breaking up may not amount to instigation for a case of abetment of suicide under the criminal law, the Delhi High Court has said.
Justice Manoj Jain made the observation while dealing with a bail plea by a man accused of abetting the suicide of his former partner, who hanged herself five days after his marriage to another woman.
Granting bail to the accused, the court observed that the instigation should be of such a nature that leaves the deceased with no option but to commit suicide.
It said only a trial would establish whether the deceased's "extreme step" was on account of provocation, instigation, "merely on account of her being hyper-sensitive girl" or for some other reason.
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In the present case, the court noted, there was no dying declaration, and the parties were in a relationship for around eight years, during which there was no complaint from the deceased.
The court observed there was a considerable time gap between the date when the parties stopped talking and the date of the suicide.
"Apparently, it seems to be a case of a broken relationship and quite possibly, the deceased, having come to know that the applicant has got married to someone else, has chosen to finish herself," the court said in the order passed on February 24.
"Though broken relationship and heartbreaks have become common these days, mere breaking-up of relationship may not per se constitute instigation so as to make it to be a case of abetment under Section 108 BNS (abetment of suicide)," the court order read.
According to the father of the deceased, his daughter had been trapped by the accused, who pressured her to convert to his religion for marriage, and it was under such pressure that his daughter committed suicide by hanging herself with a chunni in October 2025.
The accused was arrested in November 2025.
The court observed that, according to the woman's friends, she was upset, and they never claimed anything on conversion. The accused had stopped talking to her from February 2025 onwards, it said.
According to the order, the man was let out on bail on a personal bond and surety bond of Rs 25,000 each.
The accused submitted that the parties were in a cordial relationship for around eight years, but the woman's parents were against the relationship since they belonged to different religions.
He alleged that it was her parents who forced her to sever the relationship.
