It appears coach John Wright said no option will go unexplored as the New Zealand cricket team eye the one-day World Cup in the sub-contintent, which starts next month.
The test series with Pakistan now over, attention quickly turns to the one-day form and a six-match series against the tourists starting here on Saturday.
The series is about building momentum and confidence and no team needs that more than New Zealand, who have lost 11 consecutive one-day internationals.
For that reason, Wright, who will be in charge for his first one-day international on Saturday, is keeping all options open, with the early stages of the Pakistan series likely to be used for experimentation purposes.
"I think we need to try and settle things down during this Pakistan series and know exactly where we are the end of it so ... we might try a few things," he said today.
Exact specifics have not been discussed between Wright and captain Daniel Vettori, but regular openers Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder may both spend time down the order, and Ross Taylor is expected to bat at No 3 at some stage. Martin Guptill is a likely opener.
"They may not be at the top of the order," Wright said of McCullum and Ryder.
"There may be one at the top of the order. We really need to look at the way we have been playing and to consider where we have our firepower, particularly our impact batsmen.
"Obviously there is the opportunity to start with the power play and then who plays where when we get to the next power play. We will have a look at that and make the decisions."
When asked who was the more likely of the pair to drop down, Wright said: :I think I really need to talk to Dan about that, and to the players concerned.
"It's something we just have to consider carefully. Dan will have some strong views on it and you look at the batting lineup, and if we can get players in form, and get our order right, then we should be able to do the job."
Statistically, McCullum and Ryder have forged one of the most successful New Zealand one-day opening partnerships, but Wright said options for lower order hitting power needed to be explored.
"The one thing about New Zealand one-day sides is that they always appear to be at their strongest when you had great batting depth around Nos 5, 6, 7, 8.
"When you played against New Zealand they were just a hard side to break down. We will be looking to bat as deep and with as much quality as we can around those areas.
"Obviously the development of Martin Guptill has been a huge plus for us. He has played incredibly well in the Twenty20 series and he worked ever so hard in the test series, and he looks ever so promising (in the role of opening)."
Wright believes the selectors have picked a well-balanced squad for the World Cup, with several bowling options and batting strength down to No 9 and 10.
"All the talking is over, we've got this series against Pakistan and we've got to get some momentum going into the World Cup."
Meanwhile, the coach was able to take some pleasure out of the 0-1 test series loss, namely the improvement across the board in the second test draw after a 10-wicket defeat inside three days in the first test.
"I was pleased with the improvement and quality of our play in Wellington. It was disappointing not to get a win, if we had broken that partnership (between Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan) we probably would have.
"I suppose we have got to learn to play sessions and we had a terrible session in Hamilton that cost us the series.
"It's the same sort of things when you look back in any five-day situation and batting sessions, showing application and working out a way to take 20 wickets.
"The basis is there with our batting. We need to look at our fast bowling reserves and get our young players up to speed as quickly as possible. It will take a little while."
NZPA
