New Delhi (India), : Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has rooted for vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah to step up if skipper Rohit Sharma remains unavailable in the opening Test against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Rohit’s availability remains a concern for India after he admitted he is “not too sure” about being present in Perth on November 22 for the opening Test, following the conclusion of the New Zealand series.

Ponting said Bumrah who has “always been the leader of the attack” can thrive both as a bowler and captain during the match, which is expected to be a grueling affair.

Bumrah has the experience of leading the Indian team under his belt. He previously captained the team against England in Birmingham 2022.

ICC Hall of Famer Ponting believes the 30-year-old is experienced enough to shoulder the responsibility of captain and spearhead India’s batting line-up. He even went on to cite the example of current Australian captain, Pat Cummins, to make a case for the versatile speedster.

“Yeah, that’s probably the hardest thing for him. I think that was always the question for Pat Cummins when he became the Australian Test captain as well. How much will he bowl himself? Will he bowl himself too much? Will he not bowl himself enough?” Ponting said on the ICC Review.

“But someone as experienced as Jasprit will understand the times when he needs to bowl when he needs to have a spell,” Ponting noted.

Ponting feels that Bumrah would benefit as captain due to the presence of experienced batsmen in India’s Test squad for the series.

India’s 18-member squad features the likes of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant. All these stars were part of India’s last two Test series triumphs in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21.

“In the 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’re captain and just ask the right questions at the right time because no matter how much cricket we’ve played, we won’t always be right, says Ponting.

If Bumrah takes on the captaincy, there will be an extra amount of pressure, which would come from shouldering the burden of dual responsibility. But Ponting believes the 30-year-old will “thrive” in it, with a place in next year’s World Cup final at stake in the five-match Test series.

“Guys like that tend to thrive on the added pressure and responsibility. He’s always been the leader of the attack for a long time anyway. Whether it’s red ball, T20 or ODIs, he’s the main man,” Ponting said.

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