JOIN USLuke Pomersbach’s alleged misbehaviour with an American citizen at a hotel in New Delhi has landed the cricketer in fresh trouble just when he was looking to resurrect his checkered career.
It’s a sad development but given the Australian’s past, the incident doesn’t come as a surprise. While a clear picture of the fracas, during which the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s player reportedly tried to molest the woman before assaulting her fiance, still needs to emerge, it’s a situation Pommersbach could have done without.
The incident took place during the post-match party following Royal Challengers’ win over Delhi Daredevils on Thursday night. The 27-year-old allegedly invited himself for some drinks with the couple and when the woman was leaving for her bedroom to catch some sleep, Pomersbach followed her and misbehaved with her, according to her version. When her fiancee intervened, the cricketer allegedly beat him up.
Pomersbach had last year decided to skip the domestic season citing “health and well-being” reasons before the Bangalore outfit roped him in for the ongoing season.
Though the right-hander hasn’t played a single game in this edition, his presence in the mix itself was a welcome development.
“I’m looking forward to the next stage of my career,” Pomersbach had said soon after joining RCB’s camp. “I suppose it’s good to take yourself out of an environment you have been in for so long. I needed a little bit of change; probably I should have done it two or three years ago,” the Western Australia player had noted, keen to open a new chapter in his life.
In August 2009, the cricketer narrowly escaped jail sentence after he admitted to assaulting a police officer who was trying to arrest him for drunken driving. Following this, the Western Australian Cricket Association banned him from representing the State in any form of cricket until the end of the 2010-11 season. The left-hander was also fined USD 10,000 by the WACA and was asked to strictly adhere to the terms of his playing contract.
What’s disappointing is the fact that Pomersbach’s latest misdemeanour comes despite his recent admission that he could have handled some off-field situations better than he did.
“There’s probably a lot of guys who have off-field issues. Some people deal with them better and some people deal with them badly and make wrong choices in life.
Unfortunately I went down that path. But I’ve learnt a lot from them, so should such a challenge arise again, I know exactly what to do.”
Does he, really?