The Indian Premier League might be one of the foremost and quite easily the richest domestic Twenty 20 competitions in the world with world class players thronging the Indian cricket grounds to get their share of the multimillion dollar cake that the IPL is but it is not exactly free from controversies as well, as we have seen in the previous four editions of the tournament. But the 2012 edition of the Indian Premier League seems to have surpassed all other previous editions of the cash rich tournament in terms of the controversies courted by it.
First there was the spot fixing scandal, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan being banned by the Mumbai Cricket Association from entering its cricket ground for disorderly conduct and now, the IPL has been shamed again by the news that Australian batsman Luke Pomersbach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore has molested an American lady and beat up her Indian fiancé at a hotel in Bangalore. When the news first broke, there was hardly any taker but now, it has been revealed that the Aussie cricketer has admitted to his deeds to the police.
Luke had been given an interim bail after his lawyers approached the bench on a surety of 60,000 INR and had to surrender his passport. But with the latest developments, it seems that he will need another surety with the constitution of India stating that the maximum punishment for molestation can range from anywhere between 3 and 7 years.
However, the American woman and her Indian fiancé are willing to withdraw the case against Pomersbach if he is willing to compensate them handsomely and apologizes publicly for maligning them. Now it all seems to hinge on whether Pomersbach wants a prison term or just escape from the country with his dignity, or what’s left of it still intact.