Aaron Finch and Travis Head could well be in line for Test debuts for Australia against Pakistan, with Michael Neser also pushing his case.

The uncapped trio were included in the Australian XI to play Pakistan A in a four-day warm-up game in Dubai from Saturday.

Finch looks set to open the batting in place of David Warner, alongside Matt Renshaw, while Head would bat in the middle-order.

Paine said the side picked for the Pakistan A game is “pretty close to what we’ll go with” but stressed no final call had been made. Neser is primed to take the new ball alongside Mitchell Starc, with support from new joint vice-captain Mitch Marsh, whole left-arm spinner Jon Holland partners off-break bowler Nathan Lyon in the slow bowling ranks.

The team selection leaves Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Marnus Labuschagne and Peter Siddle on the sidelines.

“The squad is really flexible,” Paine said. “When we get to the first Test and we assess the conditions, we can play two quicks, three spinners, whatever scenario’s presented by the Test wicket, we’ll have a team that we think will do well in those conditions.”