Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was perhaps the most celebrated Australian batsman after the legendary Sir Don Bradman. Along with his inspirational captaincy, Ponting was also rated really high for his superior batting skills. Under his leadership, Australia became two times World champions – 2003 and 2007.
Ponting led Australia in 324 international matches, out of which the Aussies won 220 times, providing an impressive win percentage of almost 67.90% – most by any skipper in the history of the captivating game.
In a recent interview with The Herald Sun, Ponting opened up about his son’s terrifying near-death experiences. Ponting’s son, Fletcher, was just six weeks old when he fought and won a desperate battle with meningitis – inflammation of the brain and spinal cord membranes, typically caused by an infection – spending weeks in ICU.
“He was simply six weeks previous when he had meningitis, which was terrifying for us. I used to be really enjoying golf, and Rianna rang me and stated,’You higher come residence rapidly. Fletcher’s simply screaming uncontrolled. We’ve been acquired to go to the hospital’.
“By the point we acquired Emergency it was like he was unconscious, all of his life had entirely gone out of his physique. The medical doctors requested if he had hit his head which we knew he hadn’t after which they took him away for a CT scan fearing he’d had a stroke,” said Ponting.
The Tasmanian also recalled when Fletcher caught an infection in his abdomen. Ponting’s son was just eight months old back then.
“He was just limp. I thought to myself, “He’s gone!” Every nurse and doctor from the level rushed into the room at the same time – it was like a code red. It’s where your mind goes. Your body goes numb. You are helpless. There’s nothing scarier,” added Ponting.
The former Australia leader has 13,378 runs to his name in the longest format of the game, while in ODIs, he accumulated 13,704 runs.
‘Punter’ has also scored 71 international centuries which is second-most after Sachin Tendulkar.
