Pakistan pace legend Wasim Akram has disclosed that he was addicted to cocaine after the end of his playing career and quit it following the death of his first wife.

Akram, who represented Pakistan in 104 Tests and 356 ODIs, retired from the game in 2003 and began using cocaine while working as a television expert around the world.

In an interview with the Times, the 56-year-old opened up about the addiction, also revealing that he has mentioned about it in his new autobiography.

"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," Wasim was quoted as saying by BBC.

The former left-arm pacer also mentioned how the selfless act of his first wife Huma, who passed away in 2009, prompted him to give up the drug addiction.

"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 said.

Wasim Akram, who took 414 Test wickets and 502 ODI scalps, further revealed he "developed a dependence on cocaine" while he was travelling away from Huma and their two sons.

"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," he stated.

"Huma, I know, was often lonely at 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," he added.

Akram said the drugs were "a substitute for the adrenaline rush of competition, which I sorely missed" but Huma's death shortly after the 2009 Champions Trophy impelled him to quit. He has since remarried and has a daughter with his second wife.

(With IANS inputs)