Having successfully recovered from a series of mishaps including a back strain, an injury to his left knee and an ankle injury, Mashrafee was looking like the bowler of old.

However, just after lunch on day three of the second Test, the 20-year-old's right knee gave way when he was in his bowling follow-through.

He went down holding the knee and had to be carried off the field. An MRI was done at a local diagnostic centre to get an idea of the extent of damage and the report was later sent to Col. Jahangir of the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) who is a specialist in the related field.

"We are expecting his expert opinion on the injury sometime tomorrow. Until then we can't say how long he will be out of the game. But it might not be as bad as it looked," said a source close to the team management.

Team physio John Gloster and his England counterpart Kirk Russell both had a good look at the bowler's knee and are hopeful of a quick recovery, which could take some two to three weeks in the best-case scenario.

The Narail tearaway is most likely not going to take any further part in the series, which includes three one-day internationals against the tourists starting November 7 and the team management is prepared to give him ample time to recover.

For the time being it was also learnt that Mashrafee was able to walk, albeit gingerly, and would be staying back with the team in Chittagong unless there is any need for drastic medical measures.

Injuries are nothing new for the young man dubbed the 'Narail Express' but more often they have come when he least expected them.

While he was on his way to fitness from a serious back problem in 2001, he damaged his knee-ligaments while doing some skipping exercises. He recovered from that only to step over a ball and injure his ankle during practice in the last cricket World Cup and couldn't take any more part in the competition.

After returning to the field, Mashrafee was beginning to make the world stand up and take notice of his prowess when this latest injury happened.

In fact, just the day before he had bowled his best spell in Test cricket when he took four for 60.

"I also have a four-wicket haul against Zimbabwe but had conceded over a hundred runs for those wickets. So definitely this is my best bowling performance. I enjoyed this day more than any other day in my career," said the 20-year-old after the second day's action on Thursday.

He was also showing signs that he was a quick learner.

"There is no use bowling flat out on these wickets. I tried to bowl fast on a few occasions but understood it was a futile exercise. On my return from injury I bowled at my fastest in Australia where I clocked around 142 kmph. Stephen Harmison was bowling at 145 kmph in the series against South Africa on his home tracks but in Dhaka, he was more in the 135 kmph region. So, you adjust to the demands of the wicket.

'It's not that I can't bowl faster. Sometimes I just intentionally cut down my pace and concentrate on pitching the ball up because then the ball has more chance of moving," said Bangladesh's top paceman.