New Delhi, November 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has questioned the timing of Australia batter Usman Khawaja’s revelations about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, popularly known as Sandpapergate, suggesting that the disclosures could have been made after his retirement rather than in his recently released autobiography.
Reacting to Khawaja’s account of the controversy in a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra suggested that the timing could be linked to promoting the book, although he acknowledged that the truth about the scandal deserved to come out.
“Usman Khawaja has to sell his book. So he said he would dig up the eight-year-old grievances,” Chopra remarked.
He said Khawaja could have shared his account through a video or social media post after retiring from international cricket. Chopra added that players might hesitate to speak openly while still part of a team because they have to return to the same dressing room and maintain relationships with teammates.
The former India opener also questioned the original account of the 2018 scandal, in which responsibility was largely attributed to a small group of Australian players.
The controversy erupted during Australia’s Test tour of South Africa and led to sanctions against Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Chopra criticised Cricket Australia’s response, arguing that the governing body went beyond the action taken by the International Cricket Council (ICC) by imposing additional penalties, including leadership bans on Smith and Warner.
Chopra also challenged the suggestion that only a handful of players knew about the ball-tampering plan. He argued that such an operation would have been difficult to execute without the knowledge of the bowling group, particularly the fast bowlers.
“No batter is that stupid. If fast bowlers are not included in that plan, that plan is useless,” he said.
Khawaja’s account has renewed discussion about the extent of players’ knowledge of the scandal and whether the original explanation fully reflected what happened inside the Australian dressing room.
FOLLOW NOW
