Pakistan has won the toss and elected to bowl in the second Test match against Australia.

In Melbourne, Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the toss and chose to bowl in the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

Australia, having secured a 360-run victory over the visitors in Perth, aims to clinch the three-Test series and enters the game with an unchanged lineup.

For Pakistan, Mohammad Nawaz was selected as the wicketkeeper over Sarfaraz Ahmed, while fast bowlers Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali, initially overlooked in the first Test, are included, replacing the injured Khurram Shahzad and the omitted Faheem Ashraf.

This results in an all-pace attack led by the experienced Shaheen Shah Afridi and promising newcomer Aamer Jamal, with no room for a specialist spinner.

Shan Masood explained the decision to field, stating, "Just looking at the MCG pitch over the past few years and the bowling side has done well, and there´s been a bit of weather around."

Despite heavy rain on Christmas Day, the weather had cleared on Tuesday, although afternoon showers were forecast.

Australian skipper Pat Cummins mentioned that he would have also chosen to bowl. "We all pulled up really well after Perth. We´re in the fortunate position where everyone is going pretty well," he said, justifying the decision to stick with the unchanged team.

Pakistan has struggled in Australia, losing 15 consecutive Tests, with their last victory in 1995.

Teams:

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

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal

Officials:

Umpires: Michael Gough (ENG), Joel Wilson (WIS)

TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)

Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)