Usman Khawaja insists his comments on Australia's 2018 ball-tampering saga were never meant to drop teammates in it.
Usman Khawaja has pushed back on suggestions that he pointed the finger at former teammates, insisting he has "not thrown anyone under the bus" in his comments about the 2018 sandpaper scandal.
The Australia batter was part of the squad when the ball-tampering saga erupted during the Test against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town. The fallout shook world cricket. Steve Smith and David Warner were handed 12-month bans, and Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
Years on, the affair still hangs over Australian cricket, and any fresh remark from someone who lived through it gets picked apart quickly. Khawaja has now moved to calm the noise, making clear his words were about his own view of events rather than an effort to shift blame onto anyone else.
The episode remains one of the most damaging in the sport's modern history, and it keeps shaping debates about culture, accountability and how far teams should go to win. Khawaja's message is that he is not trying to reopen old wounds or settle scores.
