Australia coach Andrew McDonald believes Glenn Maxwell's breath-taking shotmaking, best illustrated by his incendiary double hundred in Monday's World Cup match against Afghanistan, will inspire a new generation of cricketers.

Captain Pat Cummins called Maxwell's unbeaten 201 off 128 balls the "greatest ODI innings", as it rescued Australia from a potential shock defeat to secure a place in the semi-finals of the showpiece event.

Hobbled by cramp during the latter stages of his innings, Maxwell smacked 10 sixes and 21 fours in his batting pyrotechnics and McDonald said it would take time to fully appreciate the magnitude of the feat.

"It looks like it will take a long time for an innings like that to sink in," McDonald told reporters ahead of Saturday's match against Bangladesh.

"It's one which you look the highlight back the next day and it still amazes you what happened.

"I think Patty summed up very well...probably the greatest one-day innings ever."

Maxwell's second hundred of the tournament demonstrated his explosive batting, which makes him such a sought-after player in limited-overs cricket.

McDonald said the all-rounder was impacting batsmanship like compatriot Ricky Ponting or South African stalwart AB de Villiers did in the past.

"Players take the game forward every day, and the game is better today than it was yesterday," the coach said.

"Glenn Maxwell will no doubt inspire a new generation with some outrageous shots...

"That's the beauty about the game, and he stretched the boundary as did AB de Villiers and Ricky Ponting in their time as well.

"So it's exciting to see where the game might head. He sees the the game differently."