Cummins says he is unfazed by Khawaja book as Australia prepare South Africa tour

Australia captain Pat Cummins said he was unfazed by possible revelations in Usman Khawaja's forthcoming autobiography during a pre-match press conference ahead of Australia's three-Test tour of South Africa. He added that his side had moved on from the ball‑tampering scandal.

Australia are set to play a Test series in South Africa for the first time since the scandal in 2018. Code Sports reported that Khawaja has already discussed the book's contents with Cummins, although the details remain under wraps. Cummins acknowledged the conversation and said he was not bothered by the prospect of fresh details, noting he has answered questions on the controversy countless times over the past eight-and-a-half years.

Cummins described a recent call from Khawaja and the exchange in his own words. "Yeah, Uz gave me a buzz a few weeks back, [saying] that he's releasing a book," said Cummins at the pre-match press conference. "He didn't go back into too much detail. He just basically gave me a heads-up that he's doing a book. As always, [my response was], 'No worries, you can tell your story. That's fine.'"

Both Cummins and Khawaja were members of Australia's squad for the controversial Cape Town Test in 2018. Television cameras captured Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper on the ball during that match. The incident prompted immediate fallout within the team.

The scandal led to Steven Smith stepping down as captain and David Warner relinquishing the vice-captaincy. Cricket Australia subsequently handed lengthy suspensions to Smith, Warner and Bancroft for their roles in the incident that damaged the sport's reputation.

When asked specifically about his conversation with Khawaja and the book, Cummins said the former opener was the best person to answer. "I'm not too sure. You'll need to ask him. It was obviously a long time ago. All the investigations and everything was done back then. I answered every question a million times. It was dealt with then," he said. "All I can say is [that] as a group, we've moved on. [I am] very happy with the last eight or nine years, how we've been as a group and evolved, and obviously my focus is on captaining the cricket team," said Cummins.

The sandpaper gate has dominated the headlines going into the series, with South African broadcaster Supersport stoking the fire by releasing the full video of the incident on social media. Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr, is scheduled to hit the shelves on November 10, following the end of Australia's three-Test tour of South Africa.