In extracts from his autobiography Sabr, Khawaja describes players using super glue on towels to rough up balls for reverse swing, calling Victoria the top practitioners in the Sheffield Shield during the 2000s and 2010s due to flat MCG pitches.
He confesses the Sandpapergate plan was openly discussed in the dressing room before the Cape Town Test, insisting ‘it was all of us’ and that he urged collective responsibility at the time.

The revelations have split fans—some praise the honesty as justice for punished players like Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft, while critics question his timing now after years of silence—and sparked calls to reinvestigate both incidents.