Warner, Khawaja take centre stage as Aussies win Perth toss

Australia's two openers who have dominated the headlines leading into the NRMA Insurance Test summer opener will get first crack on the Perth Stadium pitch after Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat.

Following a long build-up of speculation over his spot in the side, Warner now has the chance to let his bat do the talking on a bouncy surface in what are anticipated to be good batting conditions.

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad

The 37-year-old’s Test form has been the subject of considerable scrutiny but shapes as a major threat to a Pakistan bowling attack featuring two debutant pacemen in sweltering conditions in the Western Australia capital.

He intends to hang up the boots after the Sydney Test, and should get there, but his place in the side has not been guaranteed.

"Lord's (for the second Test against England in July) was going to be my last Test if I wasn't scoring runs in England," Warner told Fox Cricket before play, summing up how his Test position has been on a knife's edge for much of the past 12 months.

His opening partner Khawaja has also been prominent in the lead-in having been forced to back down from his intention to wear shoes with slogans of support for Palestinians in Gaza.

The International Cricket Council forbids the display of political messages.

"I am a grown man I can do anything I want, but I think the ICC will keep coming down and giving me fines and at some point it will detract from the game," Khawaja told Channel Seven after he wore shoes with 'Freedom is a human right' and 'All lives are equal' written on them at training in recent days.

"I stand by what I said, I will stand by that, I think forever. For me, I need to get out there and concentrate on what I am doing but it is right at the forefront of my mind.”

"I will try to (challenge the ICC) as soon as possible… I find it a bit unfair that they have come down on me at this point in time where there definitely has been precedents in the past of similar things."

Pakistan have picked an unusual side; Hasan Ali has been left out with allrounders Faheem Ashraf and Aamir Jamal picked as frontline bowlers instead, while there is no specialist spinner with another allrounder, Salman Ali Agha, to be their main slow bowler.

Their two first-gamers Khurram Shahzad and Jamal got the nod over Hasan, as well as capped pair Mir Hamza and Mohammad Wasim Jnr.

Former captain Wasim Akram suggested Shahzad is the type of bowler who can "can give you long spells", while Jamal is "quick, he's 140 (kph) but last I saw him … his control wasn't there."

"I'm really excited to see how they go," said captain Shan Masood at the toss.

Nathan Lyon will put the feet up for now as he continues his wait to join the 500-wicket club.

The off-spinner has been on the verge of becoming the eighth bowler to the milestone for nearly six months after he went down with a calf injury during the Lord's Ashes Test earlier this year.

He needs just four more wickets to join Glenn McGrath (563 Test victims) and Shane Warne as Australians to have reached the rare milestone.

Given he averages more than seven wickets per Test at the Perth Stadium, Lyon seems a certainty to get there at some stage during this match.

He has taken 22 wickets at 18.45 in three Tests here and has used the west's trademark bounce to his advantage.

"It's no secret he's the main guy in our bowling attack," Cummins said.

NRMA Insurance Test series v Pakistan

First Test: December 14-18, Perth Stadium (1.20pm AEDT)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG (10.30am AEDT)

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (10.30am AEDT)

Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi