MELBOURNE: Australia's Glenn Maxwell has accepted that his stop-start test career is effectively over and is instead preparing for a busy white-ball future that will include three World Cups in three years.

The explosive batting all-rounder has failed to replicate his limited-overs exploits in the longest format and played the last of his seven tests in Bangladesh in late 2017.

Australia's 2-1 series defeat by India exposed holes in their brittle middle order, but Maxwell had no illusions about where he stood.

"I don't think I stand anywhere near it, to be honest," the 32-year-old told Australia's Herald Sun newspaper.

"They've got their idea of what they want. They've got guys in there at the moment who are very, very good first-class players.

"Cameron Green we can see is going to be an absolute superstar, Puck (Will Pucovski), Travis Head's on the bench averaging 40 in test cricket. "They've got more than enough."

Maxwell made his test debut in 2013 in India and scored his only hundred in this format against the same oppositions four years later.

He missed much of the domestic red-ball season because of his busy limited-overs schedule, which in turn weakened his case for a test recall.

"It's one of those things where sometimes it's a bit of a double-edged sword," he said.

"You'd love to put your name forward for higher honours, but at the risk of losing your spot in the one-day team it's not worth it."

Maxwell will hope to prove his limited-overs value in the back-to-back Twenty20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 and the ODI World Cup in 2023.