Usman Khawaja Addresses Ball-Tampering Controversy in Autobiography

Khawaja Clarifies His Stance on Sandpapergate

On Sunday, Usman Khawaja refuted claims that he had "thrown anyone under the bus" following the release of an excerpt from his autobiography. This excerpt suggested that all members of the Australian cricket team were aware of the ball-tampering incident during the 2018 South Africa tour.

The incident, known as "Sandpapergate," involved players using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball during a Test match in Cape Town in March 2018, leading to a significant integrity crisis for Cricket Australia.

Despite the widespread knowledge, only captain Steve Smith, along with batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft—who was caught with sandpaper—faced bans for their involvement.

In an Instagram video, Khawaja, who shared the autobiography excerpt on Saturday, expressed his desire to be transparent about the events since 2018.

"I haven’t thrown anyone under the bus," stated the 39-year-old, who concluded his international career in January.

"The current team members and others present during the South African tour, including myself, are not the victims. The real victims are the three players—Bancroft, Warner, and Smith—who took the fall for all of us."

Khawaja mentioned that he had conversations with the three implicated players and assured Warner that he would present his perspective.

"These three deserve justice, and I haven’t accused anyone," he emphasized.

"I’m still seeking what I aimed for all those years ago: for us, including me, to share the blame as a team so we can finally move past this."

Australia's Test team recently returned to South Africa for the first time since the scandal, suffering a 2-1 defeat in the three-match series, which was partly overshadowed by discussions surrounding the incident and the release of Khawaja's book.