# Pat Cummins denies Usman Khawaja's sandpaper scandal claims

> Australia captain Pat Cummins calls Usman Khawaja's 2018 ball-tampering claims 'complete and utter nonsense'.
- Title: Pat Cummins denies Usman Khawaja's sandpaper scandal claims
- Summary: Australia captain Pat Cummins calls Usman Khawaja's 2018 ball-tampering claims 'complete and utter nonsense'.
- Keywords: pat cummins, usman khawaja, sandpaper scandal, cricket, australia, ball tampering, 2018, autobiography, cricket australia, steve smith, david warner, cameron bancroft
- Source: Indiatimes — https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/news/utter-nonsense-pat-cummins-breaks-silence-on-usman-khawajas-2018-sandpaper-scandal-claims/articleshow/135785693.cms
- Author: Amit Kumar
- Published: 2026-11-13T00:56:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: pat cummins, usman khawaja, sandpaper scandal, cricket, australia, ball tampering, 2018, autobiography, cricket australia, steve smith, david warner, cameron bancroft
## Pat Cummins denies sandpaper claims
Australia captain Pat Cummins calls Usman Khawaja's 2018 sandpaper scandal claims 'complete and utter nonsense'.

> complete and utter nonsense
## Khawaja's autobiography claims
Former Australia opener Usman Khawaja claims everyone in the team knew about the sandpaper plan in his 2026 autobiography.

> everyone in the team knew
## 2018 sandpaper scandal
The incident occurred during Australia's Test match against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town in March 2018.
## Players banned for ball tampering
Steve Smith and David Warner received one-year bans from elite cricket, Cameron Bancroft received a nine-month suspension.
## Cummins' response to Khawaja
Cummins says he did not know about sandpaper use but claims Khawaja made more serious allegations than that.

> he says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper
## Cummins on Khawaja's claims
Cummins states he was shocked by Khawaja's claim that he told Cameron Bancroft to be careful with sandpaper.

> I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam to be careful when using sandpaper
## Cummins on friendship
Cummins says friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations, criticizing Khawaja's autobiography.

> friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations
## Cummins on collective responsibility
Cummins denies remembering any discussion about collective responsibility for the ball-tampering incident.

> I don't remember any conversation around collective responsibility
## Cummins rules out legal action
Cummins says he won't take legal action against Khawaja despite defamatory claims.

> I won't be doing that
## Cummins on moving on
Cummins states it's time to move on from the controversy after eight years.

> You've got to move on. It's been eight years. We're moving on
## Key takeaway

Australia captain Pat Cummins denies involvement in 2018 sandpaper ball-tampering scandal as Usman Khawaja claims he was part of the scheme in his autobiography.