At least 60 people were killed and about 200 injured at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad at the weekend when a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives.

Before Ponting and the team flew out to tour India Sunday night, the captain said that what was happening in Pakistan was an "absolute shame".

"It’s devastating for the people involved," he was quoted as having said. "I mean, we’d be talking hypothetically, of us being in the hotel or England or South Africa being in the hotel.

"I think what we’ve done right the way through is that we just have to listen to the advice from the experts and our Department of Foreign Affairs, and security advice.

"Right way through they have not been happy for us to tour Pakistan, so obviously nothing has changed right now, with the tournament.

"It is an absolute shame that things like this continue to happen in Pakistan because, believe it or not, as players, you want to … play in all the conditions around the world," the Australian captain added.

Australia was due to play in Pakistan this week but the Champions Trophy was postponed after several countries, including Australia and South Africa, refused to travel to the volatile country.

Ponting said that leaving behind his seven-week-old daughter Emmy and his wife Rhianna Sunday night had been the most challenging moment of his life.

"If you take Pakistan out of it and what’s happened there in the last 24 hours, just walking out to the car and shutting the door was really one of the hardest things I had to do," Ponting said.

"I guess I’ve been lucky to have those last five or six weeks at home with my daughter."

Australia decided, on government advice, to go ahead with its tour of India despite last week’s bomb blasts in New Delhi that killed more than 20 people. The team would be given regular security updates, Ponting said.

Andrew Symonds is a notable omission from the team. Ponting said that while there had been "positive signs" from the talented cricketer, there was no way Symonds would be called up.

Symonds was dropped from the team after missing a team meeting before the first of three one-day games against Bangladesh in Darwin last month.