India, Nov. 13 -- Australia captain Pat Cummins has strongly rejected Usman Khawaja's allegations surrounding the 2018 Sandpaper scandal, describing the claims as "complete and utter nonsense" and insisting they were "100% wrong". Speaking at a lengthy press conference on Friday, Cummins denied having any prior knowledge of the ball-tampering plan and dismissed suggestions that Australia's senior players were collectively involved in organising the incident. His comments come a week after Khawaja's claims brought the controversial episode back into the spotlight.

Cummins also responded to Khawaja's suggestion that his Pakistani heritage and skin colour played a part in him being overlooked for Australia's Test captaincy. The Australian s...