Australian Test batsman Shaun Marsh faces four months out of action after a specialist recommended surgery for a persistent elbow injury and will therefore miss his side's tour of the UAE to play Pakistan.

The left-hander is expected to go under the knife next week which rules him out of the upcoming tours of Zimbabwe and the UAE, where Australia face Pakistan on neutral turf.

But he should be back for the opening match of the four-Test series against India, which starts in Brisbane on December 4.

“It’s a pretty significant injury. We don’t see it much in cricket; it’s more common in baseball,” Cricket Australia physio Alex Kountouris said of the ligament issue.