Khawaja claims whole Australia team knew about sandpaper scandal, denies making anyone a scapegoat

Former Australian opener Usman Khawaja has claimed that everyone in the Australia team knew about the ball-tampering scandal during the 2018 tour of South Africa. After revealing the claim in his autobiography, he denied accusations that he was making anyone a scapegoat, saying the whole team should have taken collective responsibility from the start.

In a video message published on Instagram on Sunday, Khawaja said he had wanted to tell the truth about the incident since 2018, but that getting anyone into trouble or pointing fingers at anyone personally was not his intention.

Khawaja, 39, said, 'I have not made anyone a scapegoat. Those who are in the team now, or who were on the South Africa tour, including me, none of us are victims. Those three (Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith) took all our responsibility on their own shoulders. In reality, they are the victims.'

Khawaja said he has spoken to Smith, Warner and Bancroft about the matter, and has promised Warner that he will present his own position and side of the incident. In his view, the three cricketers deserve justice.

He added, 'I am still asking for the same thing I have asked for all these years: that the whole team, including me, accept responsibility together, so that this chapter can finally be closed and everyone can move forward.'

Khawaja also explained why he spoke out only after all this time, dismissing suggestions that he was making the claim to promote sales of his autobiography.

According to Khawaja, he wanted to reveal the truth right after Smith, Warner and Bancroft were banned in 2018, but captain Smith stopped him. 'Smudge (Smith) wanted to take all the responsibility on his own shoulders as the leader of the team then. I even argued with him, but he would not agree at all. That was the first time I tried to reveal the truth,' Khawaja said.

He came close to speaking about it again in 2021, when Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon publicly said they knew nothing about the ball tampering. After long discussions with then-coach Justin Langer, however, he decided not to speak.

Even after returning to the Australia team in 2022, Khawaja did not feel comfortable speaking about it, because he was still part of the team. 'You can call me a coward if you like. But I could not figure out how to say it. I was still in the team then. I always put the team's interests first. But I am no longer in that team,' he said.

The former coach, meanwhile, has maintained that the whole Australia team was not involved in the ball tampering, a position that continues to be debated in cricket circles alongside Khawaja's claim.

The ball-tampering incident in the 2018 Cape Town Test created a major image crisis in Cricket Australia's history. Bancroft was caught red-handed rubbing the surface of the ball with sandpaper. Cricket Australia later banned captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Bancroft.

Last month, Australia toured South Africa for a Test series for the first time since 2018. They lost the three-match series 2-1 to the hosts, but throughout the series the old ball-tampering scandal and the publication of Khawaja's autobiography remained topics of discussion.

Khawaja retired from international cricket in January this year after playing 88 Tests.