Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma will not be travelling to Australia with the rest of the side ahead of the first game of the five-match Test series, according to RevSportz. The squad is all set to leave for Australia in two batches on Sunday and Monday. However, as far as Rohit is concerned, nothing concrete has been confirmed yet. The report further said that Rohit is not travelling with the side due to “personal reasons”. Head coach Gautam Gambhir will address the media in a pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Monday. The first Test match against Australia will start on November 22 in Perth.

Earlier, Australian batting great Ricky Ponting has backed Jasprit Bumrah to shoulder the dual responsibility of spearheading the Indian pace attack as well as leading the team if Rohit Sharma misses the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth.

Ponting though added that captaincy will be the “hardest thing” for the premier fast bowler.

Doubts remain over Rohit’s availability in the first Test, which will be held from November 22 at the Optus Stadium, with the skipper himself recently admitting that he was “not sure” of his participation.

“Yeah, that (captaincy) is probably the hardest thing for him. I think that was always the question on Pat Cummins when he became the Australian Test captain as well,” Ponting said of Bumrah during the ICC Review podcast.

“How much is he going to bowl himself? Is he going to bowl himself too much? Is he not going to bowl himself enough? “But, someone as experienced as Jasprit will understand the times when he needs to be bowling when he needs to have a spell.” If Rohit skips the game, the onus will be on vice-captain Bumrah to lead the side. Ponting said that the 30-year-old has enough experience to handle the leadership duties while spearheading the Indian pace attack.

“In that Indian team, there’s a lot of experience around him. And, it’s really important, I think, that you use the experience around you even when you are the captain, and just ask the appropriate questions at the right time because no matter how much cricket we’ve played, we’re not always going to be right,” Ponting said.

(With PTI inputs)