Warner departs on final ball before lunch as Khawaja completes ...

The Boxing Day Test has arrived with an unchanged Australia XI to take on Pakistan at the MCG, with the tourists making three changes for the second match of the series.

Grey skies loom over Melbourne on Tuesday with the weather forecast predicting some rain for the Victorian capital on day one.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first, with Australian captain Pat Cummins confessing he would have made the same decision.

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And the gamble almost paid off with Pakistan inducing an edge from David Warner only for Abdullah Shafique to drop the simplest of chances in the slips.

However, Warner couldn’t make the most of reprieve, departing on the final delivery of the morning session.

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MATCH CENTRE: Australia vs Pakistan, second Test scoreboard, video, stats

WEATHER LIVE: Melbourne forecast, rain, latest at MCG

WEATHER UPDATES

As of 9am, the Bureau forecast an 80 per cent chance of between one and 10mm of rain in the Melbourne area on Boxing Day.

The forecast reads: “High chance of showers, most likely during the afternoon and evening. Thunderstorms likely, mainly during the afternoon and evening and possibly severe. Winds south-easterly 20 to 30 km/h.”

TEAMS

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan XI: Imam-Ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamir Jamal

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EARLIER

Also clouding the match apart from the skies is Usman Khawaja’s battle with the ICC who, for the second-consecutive Test, banned the Australian batter from displaying a message on his shoes.

Having been banned from having ‘All lives are equal’ on his shoes in Perth, the ICC also stood in over plans to display a dove logo to raise awareness of humanitarian issues.

“Merry Christmas everybody. Sometimes you just gotta laugh. Cya at Boxing Day! #inconsistent #doublestandards,” Khawaja’s response was via Instagram.

Australia captain Pat Cummins defended Khawaja during his Christmas Day press conference, saying there was no difference between the batter’s request and Marnus Labuschagne displaying an eagle on his bat, which symbolises a religious message.

“Not really, no – I don’t know the ins and outs of the application, but I think it is pretty vanilla, a dove,” Cummins said when asked if he saw any difference.

“We really support Uzzy, I think he’s standing up for what he believes and I think he’s doing it really respectfully.

“All lives are equal and I don’t think that’s very offensive, and I’d say the same about the dove. That’s Uzzy.

“He can hold his head high the way he’s gone about it, but there’s rules in place, so I believe the ICC have said they’re not going to approve that. They make up the rules and you’ve got to accept it.”

Australia named an unchanged XI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they look to seal the series against Pakistan, who dropped veteran wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed.

The hosts crushed Shan Masood’s side by 360 runs inside four days at the first Test in Perth, with pace spearheads Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all coming through unscathed.

It means Scott Boland, who took 6-7 on debut at the MCG against England in 2021, misses out.

“We’re a huge fan of Scotty, I don’t think that’s a secret,” skipper Cummins told reporters on a wet Christmas Day.

“He’s ready to go if anything happens, so I’m sure he’ll play a part at some point.

“The message (to Boland) is always ‘we love what you bring, unfortunately, you miss out on this one but don’t change, keep working hard and make sure you stay ready’.”

Showers and potential thunderstorms are expected for the first day of play but are forecast to clear by Wednesday afternoon.

As it stands, the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting between one and 10 millimetres of rain on Tuesday, with the worst of the weather expected for the afternoon and evening when thunderstorms are also likely.

Cummins said on Monday that he was confident of a result.

“I think there will be plenty of time to finish the game. I don’t think (the weather) will change anything,” he said.

“(The wicket) looks pretty good. Fair bit of grass, probably a little bit harder and not as green as last year.”

Pakistan have been hit hard by injuries since Perth with fast bowler Khurram Shahzad and their two leading spinners, Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali, all ruled out of the Melbourne match.

They named a 12-man squad with Sarfaraz Ahmed and speedster Faheem Ashraf axed. Mohammad Nawaz will take the gloves, with Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali in contention for Shahzad’s place in the attack alongside veteran Shaheen Shah Afridi and impressive newcomer Aamer Jamal.

With Ahmed and Ali sidelined, Sajid Khan is their only spin option.

“We think Rizwan is ready and we can give Sarfaraz a little bit of a break to recoup and come back,” said Masood.

“It’s more of a tactical decision in terms of the conditions and what we can get out of each player.”