"Had a scary moment for myself" - Ricky Ponting returns to commentary after experiencing 'sharp chest pains'

Australia Nets Session — Ricky Ponting. (Image Credits: Getty)

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has opened up on the health scare he had during his commentating stint for the ongoing first Australia-West Indies Test. The Tasmanian revealed that Justin Langer and Chris Jones immediately took him to the hospital after he complained of chest pains.

Ponting, who is on commentary duties for Channel 7, had a sudden health scare during Day 3 of the Test.

As per reports, the 47-year-old confirmed that he was okay and that the hospital visit was a precautionary one.

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Speaking to Channel 7, Ponting stated that he experienced "sharp pains to his chest" and tried brushing it off by stretching. He explained:

"I probably scared a lot of people yesterday and had a scary moment for myself. I was sitting in the comms box halfway through the stint and got a couple of really short and sharp pains to my chest. I tried to stretch it out and get rid of it, and probably didn't want to give too much away when I was on air."

The former batter mentioned that he underwent a couple of similar episodes before and confided in Langer before ending up at the hospital. He added:

"I had a couple of those incidents, got through the stint and went to walk to the back of the commentary box and got lightheaded and dizzy and grabbed the bench. I mentioned to JL on the way out, who was commentating with me, that I had had these pains in my chest and Chris Jones heard me and just reacted straight away and got me out of there.

"Ten or 15 minutes later, I was in the hospital getting the best treatment that I possibly could. I feel great this morning, I am all shiny and new this morning."

The former Aussie captain's health scare concerned the cricketing fraternity, given how Shane Warne passed away in March due to a heart attack and Dean Jones suffered the same fate during IPL 2020.

"I think that is a good learning curve for me yesterday" - Ricky Ponting

Ponting further claimed to be feeling relieved to have Langer by his side, which made him feel much better. He stated:

"I think the bottom line is, the fact that I was willing to share it with JL and the fact that your mate looks after you, I think as people of our age, we are a little reluctant to share much or talk about our health and I think that is a good learning curve for me yesterday, especially with what has happened in the last 12-18 months to really close people around us.