Sandpapergate row: Khawaja cancels media interviews after Cummins question

Former Australia opener Usman Khawaja has cancelled his remaining promotional media interviews following intense questioning regarding the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal. During an appearance on ABC's 7.30, Khawaja refused to answer whether Australian captain Pat Cummins was aware of the ball-tampering plan in Cape Town, responding that he would not answer the question. Publisher Penguin subsequently notified media outlets that his scheduled television and radio appearances for his autobiography, Sabr, were called off.

Khawaja recently alleged in his book that the entire Australian team knew about the plan, contradicting Cricket Australia's original investigation, which sanctioned only Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft. Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon had previously denied any prior knowledge in 2021. Cricket Australia stated it remains comfortable with its initial findings, while chief executive Todd Greenberg ruled out reopening the investigation.