Three to debut in Australia Test team

Australia will field three debutant batsmen in the first Test against Pakistan, captain Tim Paine confirmed Saturday, in a major overhaul of the side's top order.

Marnus Labuschagne will join Aaron Finch and Travis Head in receiving Baggy Greens on Sunday morning in Dubai, with Matthew Renshaw the major omission from those within the 15-player squad.

Peter Siddle has pipped Michael Neser for the second seam-bowling spot, joining fellow quick Mitchell Starc along with spinners Nathan Lyon and Jon Holland.

Australia XI for first Test: Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Tim Paine (c), Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland.

Sunday's series opener will mark the fourth time in the past 10 years Australia have fielded three debutants in the same XI, having done so in Johannesburg in 2009 and then again in 2016 in Adelaide, both in Tests against South Africa, and against New Zealand in the summer of 2011-12.

Renshaw, one of the debutants in Adelaide two years ago, was substituted out of Australia's only tour match after a hefty head blow at short leg, following on from a hamstring injury he suffered during the recent Australia A tour of India.

While he's made full recoveries from both injuries, Paine said his lack of match practice ultimately counted against him.

"The decision was made that he just hadn't played enough cricket," Paine said on Saturday. 

"Marnus has played quite a bit of cricket on the A tour and he's in really good form and he deserves a chance.

"(Renshaw) has had a bit of an unlucky run with injury, he missed a game in India (on the A tour) and then got hit on the head and couldn't bat in the (tour) game."

The XI for the first Test sees Usman Khawaja promoted to open with Finch, which Paine suggested was a combination picked specifically for subcontinental conditions. Allrounder and new vice-captain Mitch Marsh has been promoted to No.4 after his brother Shaun at No.3, while Head slots in at five ahead of Labuschagne.

Labuschange's astonishing rise comes after initially missing selection for the four-day leg of the recent 'A' series in India. Only Renshaw made more runs than the South African-born right-hander in the JLT Sheffield Shield last season, while Labuschagne is also a handy leg-spin bowler and specialist short-leg fielder.

Neser had looked set to be a fourth debutant having been preferred to Siddle in the tour match against Pakistan A.

The Queensland quick bowled credibly in that game but Siddle's strong County Championship form for Essex over the winter, where he took 37 wickets at 16.40 in seven four-day matches, and his 211 Test wickets saw him get the nod.

But Paine foreshadowed that Neser is not out of the running to feature in this series, with the second Test to be held in Abu Dhabi from October 16.

"We just think 'Sidds' has been playing quite a bit of cricket, he's in good form. We knew he was playing really good cricket in the lead-up," Paine continued.

"We just thought we'd give 'Nes' a chance to play in that tour game to get some cricket into him.

"And with the conditions over here, we thought it was important he had a game under his belt in case we need him in the second game in case anything happens to any of our quicks in this game."

Qantas Tour of the UAE

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

Pakistan Test squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez

Tour match v Pak A:Match drawn

Oct 7-11: First Test, Dubai

Oct 16-20: Second Test, Abu Dhabi