Uncertainty over Aussie T20 side

Phillip Hughes and Nathan Lyon are in contention to make their Twenty20 international debuts as Australia's selectors sweat on results in the Oppo Champions League Twenty20 ahead of the VB Tour of the UAE series opener against Pakistan on Sunday.

Three players from Australia's original 13-man T20 squad will be in action in Thursday's Champions League semi-finals, with at least one to miss national duty for their club side.

Australia's squad was reduced to 12 when Shane Watson was ruled out with injury and Hughes and Lyon – already in Dubai for the one-day matches that follow – are now on standby.

Cameron Boyce, also in line for his Twenty20 international debut, will play for Hobart Hurricanes against Kolkata Knight Riders, featuring tearaway young quick Pat Cummins in one semi-final.

At least one will advance to Saturday's final while the loser's consolation prize will be a quick flight from Hyderabad to Dubai for Sunday's match in front of an expected sell-out crowd of 25,000.

Glenn Maxwell's Kings XI Punjab will feature in the other semi-final and should they win the on-duty selectors Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann will be left needing a ring-in to bolster the 10 available squad members.

Maxwell may prove to be the biggest loss as newly installed T20 skipper Aaron Finch looks to start his tenure with a victory.

Maxwell plundered runs for fun in Dubai in the early stages of this year's Indian Premier League and scored a half-century against Pakistan in the World T20 earlier this year.

"It would be great to have a player like him available," Finch told cricket.com.au.

"He dominated so much when he played here in the IPL, and it's a place I know he loves playing.

"It would be ideal to have him in the side but there's nothing we can do about it.

"It's just another thing that gets thrown up and you have to embrace it.

"The Champions League is such a big competition, and a world competition now, that guys have to be given the opportunity to perform there on that stage."

Marsh and Lehmann have come up with contingency plans and Finch said although he would be cheering Hobart on as the only KFC T20 Big Bash League team left in the Champions League, he would also love to have Boyce in his playing XI.

"Boyce has been a very good performer in the Big Bash and I think he really deserves his opportunity in this side," said Finch.

"I think it would be really nice for Boycey to make his international debut and I think he deserves it."

Whatever the make-up of the side he is eventually given, Finch is confident his charges have the versatility and firepower to start his captaincy reign on the right foot.

"Whenever you play T20 you have to be adaptable and as a batsman you have to be prepared to bat from one to seven," he said.

"So I think guys will get their heads around it.

"We'll have some plans and roles for guys who are guaranteed to be in the team and if someone is coming in at late notice, I'm sure they'll be across that."

Finch admitted he was feeling some nerves ahead of his first game as captain of the national team, but vowed to bring an aggressive and entertaining style as Australia seeks to shed its tag of underperformers in the format.

"When you're a captain of a Twenty20 side you just have to adapt to how your team performs best," said Finch.

"We've had some quite mixed results and it can be quite tough when you play a one-off game here and there against different opposition."

With 113 Twenty20 matches under his belt, from the Big Bash League to the IPL and for Yorkshire in England, Finch feels he has the experience to make an impact as captain.

"But it's a format of the game I absolutely love, it's exciting and it probably suits my style of cricket as well.

"I think I will be quite aggressive. You have to be willing to take risks. Sometimes they come off and you look great and sometimes they don't and you look like a fool, but I'm prepared to cop all that."