Marsh in, Cummins rested for first ODI

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik has won the toss and his side will bat first as the five-match Qantas Tour of the UAE gets underway in Sharjah with the Australians recalling Shaun Marsh while a developmental Pakistan side have handed out two debuts. 

Glenn Maxwell has been confirmed in Australia's starting XI after the allrounder was under a cloud heading into the match following a battle with a stomach bug. Those fears were allayed on match eve with a perky Maxwell enjoying a high-octane training session. 

Marsh has returned to the starting XI in place of fellow Western Australian Ashton Turner, who shot to stardom with a match-winning knock against India. Marsh had been axed from the side for the fifth and final ODI against India after poor returns in the preceding two games that came after his late arrival in the country following the birth of his second child. 

He was backed by coach Justin Langer and - as Australia's best performed batsman in the 2018 calendar year including two tons on English soil - is by no means out of the nation's World Cup calculations.

However, the Aussies have rested Pat Cummins, as expected with a heavy workload ahead of their prized paceman. Kane Richardson and Jason Behrendorff also miss out from the opening match with the twin spin attack of Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon retained.

Cummins, with 14 scalps at 16, was Australia's leading wicket taker in their comeback series triumph in India.

"With the bowlers coming off the back of a long summer, a pretty quick India series and then a couple of days off … I think there will be a little bit of monitoring them and seeing how they're going," Finch said on match eve.

"It's just been a long summer for a lot of guys. I think it will just be a game to game basis on how they're tracking, how they're flagging with all their markers.

"He (Cummins) has shown over the last couple of years how durable he's become but also his skills are extraordinary. In all forms of cricket, he's just getting the job done. He's been unbelievable.

"His resilience especially after so many (injuries) – he probably had a lot of doubts in his own mind about how long he could push through before he gets a niggle again."

Pakistan handed debuts to two players, including fast bowler Mohammad Abbas who caused the Australians so many problems in last October's two-Test series. The other debutant is left-handed opening batsman Shan Masood who earned his spot after a series of impressive performances in domestic cricket. 

Masood scored 632 runs in Pakistan's regional one-day cup, then added 654 runs in the nation's departmental one-day cup. He then hit two centuries in as many matches against New Zealand A in Dubai last October, and added 238 runs in five one-day games against the England Lions.

The hosts have rested eight first-choice players from their side for this series, with a prickly head coach Mickey Arthur forced to defend the approach this week.

Arthur said Pakistan had four spots to fill in their 15-man World Cup roster and set a target of at least the semi-finals for Pakistan to reach at the tournament in England in June and July, with Umar Akmal among those vying for a berth.

"This didn't just happen, there was planning that went into this. Sometimes people think it's just ad hoc and we make it up as we go," Arthur bristled to a throng of Pakistan journalists.

"This has been planned so we could test our bench depth, so we could have a look at our final combinations.

"We know who our major players are going to be at the World Cup. We know that. This will sort out the final couple of places.

"This is a series of opportunity. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out there's a couple of positions available for the World Cup."

Jhye Richardson enters the tour with his reputation enhanced by the exploits in India and a huge winter on the horizon. The 22-year-old is widely regarded as the nation's most promising young paceman, impressing on Test debut in Brisbane then forming a potent new-ball pairing with Pat Cummins that delivered Australia an unprecedented ODI series win in India

Pakistan XI: Shan Masood, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik (c), Faheem Ashram, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Abbas.

Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa.

Qantas Tour of the UAE

First ODI: v Pakistan, March 22 in Sharjah

Second ODI: v Pakistan, March 24 in Sharjah

Third ODI: v Pakistan, March 27 in Abu Dhabi

Fourth ODI: v Pakistan, March 29 in Dubai

Fifth ODI: v Pakistan, March 31 in Dubai

(all matches begin at 10pm AEDT)