Pat Cummins speaks during a press conference (Source: AFP Photos)
Pat Cummins was supposed to attend a press conference on Friday (November 13) the discuss Usman Khawaja's recent remarks about the infamous Sandpapergate. And he came as promised and made his stance clear on the sensitive subject.
For the starters, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were punished in 2018 for a plot to tamper with the ball using sandpaper when Australia met South Africa for a Test match in Cape Town. Khawaja, just a few days ago, revealed that the entire Australia XI in Cape Town knew about the matter before it took place.
Pat Cummins Unleashes On Usman Khawaja Over Sandpaper Controversy
On Friday, Cummins had a 68-minute question-and-answer session on Khawaja’s claims. He told the reporters that what Khawaja said was "100% wrong" and "utter nonsense".
"When he says we all knew, if by that he means we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, he's 100% wrong. I said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That's complete and utter nonsense," Cummins said on Friday.
Khawaja retired from international cricket in January this year. Before that, he and Cummins played 56 matches together for Australia.
In fact, Khawaja was in Australia’s playing XI when Cummins made his debut in 2011. They were together in New South Wales as well during Australia’s domestic competition.
Cummins Accuses 'Friend' Khawaja Of Damaging Australian Cricket Culture
Furthermore, Cummins emphasised Khawaja’s contributions to Australian cricket and called him his friend. However, given how explosive his remarks were, the Australian captain highlighted that he should have been aware of others’ reputations as well.
"That's not the Usman that I know. It's not the Usman that I think, or that has been part of a team that's helped rebuild this Australian cricket culture over the last eight years, and you know the Usman that would have stopped that from happening there and then. Usman's a friend, but friends aren't casual with each other's lives and reputations," he added.
Khawaja was the pinnacle of Australia’s World Test Championship (WTC) triumph during the 2021- 23 cycle. Back then, he scored 1621 runs at an average of 64.84 in 17 Tests, the country's the run-scorer.
Overall, only Joe Root had scored more runs than him in that cycle.
