One of the best pacers to ever grace the sport of cricket, Wasim Akram, stays a extremely revered determine within the sport all throughout the globe. Many budding pacers as of late watch movies of Akram and attempt to mannequin their recreation across the iconic Pakistani pacer. But, not all the pieces has been hunky-dory in Akram’s cricketing profession. The left-arm pacer has additionally been accused of ‘match-fixing’. In truth, he himself feels that there are specific individuals in Pakistan who nonetheless see him as a ‘match-fixer’.

In his soon-to-be-released ebook ‘Sultan: A Memoir’, Wasim Akram has opened up on a couple of darkish chapters of his life, together with match-fixing allegations, ball-tampering scandals, a cocaine dependancy in addition to the dying of his first spouse.

“I probably wanted to forget. I’ve been diabetic for 25 years and didn’t want the stress. But my sons are 25 and 21, my younger daughter is almost 18, and it’s my story for them. And my [second] wife, Shaniera. They all wanted to know what happened, my side of the story, because they have heard stuff about me.

“People could speak about Wasim Akram, probably the greatest left-armers, Pakistan and Lancashire and so forth, and that is how I’m usually seen by you guys within the UK. But in Pakistan, the rumours persist – ‘he is a match-fixer’ – and that hurts quite a bit,” Akram informed The Guardianin an interview.

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The Guardian report states that there were rumors of Akram trying to fix a 1996 match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Christchurch and also about his late withdrawal from the 1996 World Cup quarter-final loss to India.

But, the biggest ‘mistake’ Akram admits to have made is not realising that one of his oldest school friends, Zafar Iqbal, was a bookmaker. The legendary pacer conceded that the period was like a ‘trauma’ for him.