Pakistan win toss, reshuffle side for second Test

Australia's top order faces a tricky early challenge in the Boxing Day Test as Pakistan captain Shan Masood inserted his opponents after winning the toss on Tuesday morning.

Under grey skies at the MCG, Pakistan will be eager to vindicate their decision to field another all-pace attack, which will get first use of the favourable bowling conditions.

Bowling first at the MCG has proved a successful strategy in the past two Tests. Pat Cummins oversaw innings victories against South Africa last year and England the summer prior after electing to field on both occasions.

"Just having looked at the MCG for the last few years, the side bowling first has done well. There's a bit of weather around so we'd like to take every opportunity we can with the ball," said Masood, whose last match at the famous venue was Pakistan's defeat in the T20 World Cup final last year.

"We were at the T20 World Cup here last year, you could see even then there was a lot of lateral movement so we can expect that to stay the same throughout the game. Hopefully it won't crack up like Perth.

"We took that risk to bowl first. There will be enough for the bowlers, but there's always something there for the batsmen. Whoever plays well, there's always value for your shots and we've seen decent scores at this ground."

Cummins confirmed he also would have bowled if he won the toss but said: "this year (the decision) felt harder than previous years … it feels pretty firm, so not too upset we're batting."

Melbourne endured one of its wettest Christmas days and more inclement weather is expected for Tuesday. Thunderstorms and up to 15mm of rain have been forecast, though the radar was clear for the morning session.

The Aussies resisted bringing in hometown hero Scott Boland, naming an unchanged side from the one that recorded a thumping 360-run win in the NRMA Insurance series opener in Perth.

Pakistan on the other hand have made three changes to their XI, including dropping their wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for Mohammad Rizwan, but resisted the temptation to bring in a specialist slow bowler.

With their first-choice spinners Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali out with injury and illness respectively, the moustachioed Sajid Khan shaped as a likely inclusion but was instead relegated to completing fitness drills before play.

Agha Ali Salman, the off-spinning allrounder, is Masood's main option for a change of pace.

"We did think about (bringing in Sajid) but looking at the ground and the T20 World Cup last year, (teams) were seam heavy and I thought Agha did a decent job in Perth keeping one end quite economical, so we’ll try to do the same," said Masood.

Pacemen Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza have been brought in instead despite sub-par returns in a two-day practice match at the Junction Oval last week, with Khurram Shahzad sidelined by a rib stress fracture.

Faheem Ashraf has also been omitted after going at worse than five runs per over in Perth.

Despite the forecast, around 65,000 people were anticipated to attend the first day of one of Australian sport's most iconic events.

"It's huge every year," said Cummins. "You hear all the stories as you walk around Melbourne of people who have flown down for their bucket-list item."

NRMA Insurance Test series v Pakistan

First Test: Australia won by 360 runs

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

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

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, 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, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi