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"He made me famous": Monty Panesar unapologetic on Steve Smith pre-Ashes banter

Soumyajit Dutta

Monty Panesar and Steve Smith [Source: @NoContextCounty/X]Monty Panesar and Steve Smith [Source: @NoContextCounty/X]

The pre-Ashes jibes between Monty Panesar and Steve Smith got quite the clout as the ex-England spinner tried to get under Smudge’s skin with the 2018 sandpaper gate scandal. 

The banter flew both ways and halfway into the Ashes 2025-26, Monty Panesar mockingly admitted that the swipe at Smith apparently made him famous.

What happened between Panesar and Steve Smith?

Panesar, who retired from England cricket in 2015, currently does occasional stints as a cricket pundit and apparently pulled off a skewed attempt to make Smith uncomfortable ahead of the Ashes.

Allegedly, Panesar told a UK betting site called AceOdds to try to get into Smith’s head by bringing up ‘Sandpaper Gate’.

Smith retaliated to the dig pretty bluntly during a pre-Ashes press meet.

“Who of you in the room has seen Mastermind and Monty Panesar on that? Any of you? For those of you who have, you’ll understand where I’m coming from, and those of you who haven’t, do yourself a favour, because it’s pretty comical. Doesn’t really bother me, those comments (from Panesar), so that’s as far as I’ll go with that one,” Smith said.

Things got flared up, and Panesar too, responded to Smith’s reaction saying, "We've both made mistakes. I made mine on a quiz show, he made his on a cricket field.”

Nevertheless, weeks after the banter, Monty Panesar thanked the ex-Aussie captain for acknowledging his comment publicly and making him popular across the media.

Panesar takes subtle dig while thanking Steve Smith

Speaking at an exclusive interview for India Today, Panesar shared how grateful he is towards Steve Smith.

“I didn't expect any media to pick it up anyway. No one really listens to me. They tend to ignore me when I talk about cricket in the media. So I gotta thank Steve Smith, he made me famous,” Panesar said in the interview.

Further, Panesar didn’t miss a chance to take a subtle dig at the Aussie mentality with a ‘Delhi boy’ dig as he mocked that Australia’s capital is New Delhi.

“Thank you very much and I know the capital of Australia is New Delhi. So, might find Delhi in Australia but I am sure I will find it out in some stage,” Panesar added.

Notably, Panesar and Steve Smith met each other on the field for 3 times in Test cricket, where Panesar managed to dismiss Smith once from his 39 deliveries as the batter scored 18 runs.