Gautam Gambhir dismissed concerns over the form of star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but India’s coach did little to address the uncertainty lingering over the former’s availability for the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Gambhir, fronting the press for the first time since the remarkable 0-3 defeat to New Zealand and ahead of his first overseas Test tour as head coach, was as combative in his pre-departure media conference as he was during his 13-year international playing career.

India’s first Test series loss at home in more than a decade has led to questions over whether a previously formidable group of players can pull off a third consecutive triumph on a Test trip to Australia.

The potential absence of captain Rohit for the series opener due to personal reasons is a chief concern. Gambhir only said the 37-year-old “hopefully” will play and confirmed vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah would lead if he does not.

“At the moment, there is no confirmation but we will let you know exactly what the situation will be,” Gambhir said of Rohit, who was not believed to be among an initial group of Test squad members who have arrived in Australia over recent days.

In the frame to open in Rohit’s possible absence are veteran KL Rahul and the uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran, despite that pair failing to impress while taking on the new ball together for India A at the MCG last week, neither passing 17.

Rahul has seven of his eight Test centuries opening the batting, one of them coming in the 2014-15 SCG Test, but has more recently been deployed in the middle order. Gambhir insisted he could handle a return to the top.

“There are times when you go with the experienced players,” he said. “That is the quality of the man, that he can actually bat at the top of the order, he can bat at number three and he can actually bat at number six as well.

“You need quite a lot of talent to be doing these kind of jobs. Imagine how many countries have players like KL who can open the batting and can bat at number six as well. I feel that, if needed, I think he can do the job for us, especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test match.”

But Gambhir’s strongest comments were in defence of senior men Rohit and Kohli despite the senior duo standing out as the Indian top-order’s two weakest links through five Tests since Gambhir took over.

Rohit, with whom Gambhir said he has an “incredible relationship”, is averaging 13.30 from his past 10 innings, only once passing fifty, while Kohli has fared little better, averaging 20.62 over the same period.

That has formed part of a longer-term decline for Kohli; by the time the first ball is bowled in Perth next week, he will have had a five-year spell having scored just two Test centuries, averaging 31.68 in that time.

It prompted Ricky Ponting to suggest “there wouldn’t be anyone else probably even playing international cricket as a top-order batsman that’s only scored two Test match hundreds in five years” on an ICC podcast.

When those comments were put to him on Monday, Gambhir’s reply was typically forthright: “What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? I think he should think about Australian cricket.

“More importantly, I have got no concerns whatsoever for Virat and Rohit,” Gambhir continued. “They are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket, and they will continue to achieve a lot in the future as well.

“For me, the most important thing is that they still work really hard, and they’re still passionate, they still want to achieve a lot more.

“The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me. I feel there’s a lot of hunger, especially after what has happened in the last series.”

Gambhir accepted criticism for the series defeat to the Kiwis, who largely beat India at their own game.

The hosts unravelled against the left-arm spin of Ajaz Patel (15 wickets at 24) and Mitchell Santner (13 wickets at 12), while Rachin Ravindra (256 runs at 51), Will Young (244 at 49) and Devon Conway (227 at 38) trumped all but Rishabh Pant (261 at 43) with the bat.

However the 43-year-old coach bristled at a question over whether he is “feeling the heat” from fans on social media.

“What difference does it make, social media? What difference does it make in my life and, for that matter, in anyone’s life?” he said.

“When I took up this job, I always knew it would be a highly difficult job – and a highly prestigious job as well.

“Honestly I don’t think I am feeling the heat.

“There are some incredibly tough people in that dressing room who have achieved some great things for the country and will continue to achieve some great things for the country.

“It’s an absolute honour to be coaching them and coaching India.”

NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India

First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed