Big biscuits up for grabs in T20 series

Captain Aaron Finch says his players are feeling fresh and motivated as they bid to claim the No.1 T20I ranking for the first time when they take on Pakistan in a three-match series beginning Wednesday night.

And the hosts' skipper, Sarfraz Ahmed, is certainly wary of the threat posed by Finch's flock, labelling Australia the best T20 team in the world.

The Aussies will be out for revenge when the two sides meet at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium for the series opener after Pakistan proved too good in the final of July's tri-series in Zimbabwe, claiming a six-wicket victory on the back of opener Fakhar Zaman's 91.

Pakistan's XI also includes four members of the Test side that defeated Australia last week to secure a 1-0 series victory.

Sarfraz is nonetheless cautious of an Australian squad bolstered by the return of powerhouse Chris Lynn, allrounder Mitch Marsh and rookie batsman Ben McDermott.

"We all know Australia are the best T20 team in the world at the moment," he told reporters.

"The previous team, some of the players are not part of the team, but Lynn coming back into the team, Mitch Marsh back into the team and McDermott – I saw him and he played very well in the Big Bash.

"I (expect) a good contest. Hopefully we will perform well against them."

A clean sweep for Australia would propel them above Pakistan and second-placed India to top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time.

Finch is one of four players, along with Mitch Marsh, Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle, who could back up after playing in the Tests.

Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc is also in the squad for the three T20s but is highly unlikely to play any part as he nurses a tight hamstring.

The group will have spent almost six weeks in the UAE by the time they return to Australia.

"There's nine fresh guys that have come into our squad from the Test series so there'll be no baggage from then whatsoever," Finch said.

"I'm the only batsman out of the top handful that was here for the Test series so I think in that regard, they're just going to come in and play their natural game."

Finch said Australia were yet to settle on their XI for the opening T20 after Marsh, Lyon, Starc and Siddle all sat out Monday's warm-up match against the UAE.

Master blaster Chris Lynn looms as a big potential inclusion after recovering from his latest shoulder injury sustained in New Zealand in February.

Lynn and opener D'Arcy Short, who has also battled shoulder issues, were wearing fluoro orange vests during fielding drills at Australia's training session on Tuesday night but both have been declared fit for Wednesday's game.

"Obviously being injured for quite a while, it's always a bit uncertain with Chris in the field whether he's diving and stuff like that," Finch said.

"But from all reports he's 100 per cent. He says he's feeling great at the moment and it's great to have him back.

"Pakistan played very well against us in July. We got the better of them in the first game but they battled back in the last two. They are world number one at the moment and they are world number one for a reason."

Sarfraz confirmed exciting young leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who missed the Test series with a groin injury, would return along with left-arm spinner Imad Wasim.

Veteran allrounder Shoaib Malik, whose wife was due to give birth this week, will miss the first T20 but is expected to be available later in the series.

Pakistan XI: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Hussain Talat, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi.

Australia (from): Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh (vc), Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D'Arcy Short, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

Qantas T20 Tour of the UAE

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Mitch Marsh (vc), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D'Arcy Short, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Mitch Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf

Oct 22: Australia beat UAE by seven wickets

Oct 24: First T20, Abu Dhabi

Oct 26: Second T20, Dubai

Oct 28: Third T20, Dubai

*All matches against Pakistan start at 8pm local time, 3am the following day AEDT