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Assistant coach Andrew McDonald says Australia's brains trust will have the 2023 World Cup in the back of their minds during the ODI series against India.
Australia's one-day batting order will remain a work in progress this summer as they build towards the 2023 World Cup.
Justin Langer's team stumbled at the semi-final stage of the 2019 World Cup, which marked Steve Smith and David Warner's return from suspension, and have firmly set their sights on the next edition of the 50-over tournament.
Coach Langer, captain Aaron Finch and selectors spent plenty of time during cricket's COVID-19 stoppage mulling plans for the next ODI World Cup, which is set to be held in India.
The early signs were impressive; Australia's first tour after the extended break resulted in England's first ODI series loss at home since 2015.
Glenn Maxwell batted at No.7 in all three of those games, with the question of where the dynamic batsman best fits in the order among the many that Australia will seek to resolve before the next World Cup.
Selectors picked allrounders Maxwell, Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis throughout that ODI series in England, wanting to give Finch plenty of options with the ball.
The three-match series against Virat Kohli's side, which starts at the SCG on Friday, will provide more pointers towards Australia's plans for the 50-over showpiece.
"That's definitely been a focus during the COVID period when we didn't have games on. There were lots of planning discussions around that," assistant coach Andrew McDonald said.
"Definitely over the course of the next few series, you'll see some directional shifts there.
"That doesn't necessarily mean the playing personnel. It can mean roles, the order and all that sort of stuff.
"The focus will be to win the series, you want to win every series and game for Australia but there will always be in the back of your mind the planning towards 2023."
McDonald suggested most batting orders are never truly settled in one-day cricket.
"There's always chopping and changing in some areas, in particular that middle-to-late order. We saw Glenn Maxwell bat as low as seven during the last series and have success there," he said.
"With that build towards 2023, you'll see some different roles taking shape."
