Australia coach Mickey Arthur feels Shane Watson will return to the Test side as a middle order batsmen after recovering from injury.
The 30-year-old has not played for the Baggy Greens since the Johannesburg Test against South Africa last November and he was forced to sit out the Aussies' 4-0 thrashing of India in the recent Test series Down Under.
The injury-prone all-rounder is close to a return but will probably remain on the sidelines until the conclusion of the current one-day series involving India and Sri Lanka to ensure that he is fit to travel to the Caribbean to face the West Indies in all three forms of the game.
The Queenslander began his career in the middle order but was given the task of opening the innings on the Aussies' 2009 tour to England and he took to the job immediately with several decent scores.
He has now cemented his place at the the top of the order, despite many people feeling that his game is not really suited to going in first, and has become one of the most consistent performers in the side.
But with the emergence of David Warner and Ed Cowan as an opening partnership, there have been rumours that he could well drop down the order in the five-day game, and Arthur believes that is where he might do his best work.
"He can bat anywhere. I think ultimately he'll bat down the order and bowl at some stage," he said. "We need to have that discussion. We've broached it once or twice before but nothing definite.
"Then it's where best he fits for us and where best it fits for him.
"He's going to be doing some bowling and Michael's used him wisely through the period that he had him before this summer.
"It's how he can sustain that bowling and open the batting that's going to be the question."