Straight drive

Wasim Akram may have battled diabetes for the past 14 years, and emerged a winner, too, but he is sure he couldn’t survive a day in the

Bigg Boss

house. The former Pakistani cricketer, who spoke at the

Hindustan Times

Leadership Summit about the issue of diabetes on Friday, said, “I can’t even imagine spending weeks with random people.” Akram, who was approached to be part of the reality TV show, added, “Mine would have been the first suicide on television.”

The ace bowler, who is idolised by many, says one person he looks up to as a leader from the present generation is politician Rahul Gandhi. “Rahul Gandhi — that guy leads from the front,” he says. “He visits remote places, unlike other politicians, and is a people’s person.” But, Akram himself is not willing to go into politics. “(Cricketer) Imran Khan is there, and I support him,” he says.

Akram, who also declined an offer to participate in

Khatron Ke Khiladi

, says he is a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan. “He is my hero and I never miss

Kaun Banega Crorepati

,” says Akram.

Last seen on Indian television on the reality TV show,

Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena

, his equation with co-judge, actor Sushmita Sen, has since been a hot topic of discussion. “I just listen (to the news) and move on,” says the 44-year-old. “We are still friends and hang out together. There’s nothing else.”

And, how do his sons — Taimur (13) and Akram (9) — react to something like this? “Yes, it was all over the newspapers in Pakistan, too, and they were a bit disappointed,” says Akram, who lost his wife to multiple organ failure in October last year. “But, it’s just a difficult time that we have been going through, and I tell them exactly that.”

First Published: Nov 20, 2010 15:52 IST