Wasim Akram has been accused of match-fixing throughout his career.
The former fast bowler says the match-fixing allegations prompted him to write his biography, Sultan: A Memoir.
“I’m a legend in Australia, England, West Indies, and India. But, in Pakistan, social media calls me a match-fixer, “Says Akram.
The Pakistan Cricket Board appointed Justice Qayyum of the Lahore High Court to examine match-fixing claims against the former bowler in the 1990s. The panel’s 2000 pages report held Salim Malik and Ata-ur-Rehman responsible for the match-fixing. However, in its findings, the inquiry panel did not find concrete evidence against Wasim Akram.
Wasim Akram’s case hasn’t been proven due to Ata-ur-perjury. Hence the commission gave Akram the benefit of the doubt. However, The Commission advises removing Akram as captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team and appointing a person with a spotless reputation.
After publishing the report, the panel fined Wasim Akram Rs. 300,000.
In 2003, after an 18-year-long career, he got retired. But to date, he is considered one of the greatest fast bowlers Pakistan has ever produced.
Wasim Akram took 414 Test wickets and 502 ODI wickets in his 18 years cricket career.
In his Memoir, he revealed his post-retirement cocaine addiction. He wrote in his book, as quoted by the ESPNcricinfo.”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.
“I became addicted to cocaine. It started innocently when I was handed a line at a party in England; I needed it to operate.
“Out of control. I was helpless. One cocaine line became two, then four, then a gram, then two. I was not sleeping and not eating. I ignored my diabetes, causing headaches and mood swings.
“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.
After his first wife died, the cricketer-turned-commentator ended his drug addiction.
