The first Indian player to play professional league in Sweden last year, Shahid moulded his Tisco, Bihar team into a crack outfit, and led them to the National basketball title last year at Ludhiana. Shahid was the Player of the Tournament. Sources say the international is to be named captain of the Indian team for the forthcoming year.

The mishap occurred last week at Berhampur, Orissa, where Tisco were defending their Federation Cup title. In the first match against Indian Overseas Bank, Shahid went for a lay-up drive early in the game, when his right knee snapped.

Shahid said, ``I was feeling fit and went for an unusually high lay-up. The ball slipped from my hand and my attention wandered, causing me to land unevenly.''

Shahid wastaken out on a stretcher, and flew to Mumbai on Saturday, his knee wrapped in a blanket of ice. X-Rays did not reveal much, but an arthroscopy performed today by specialist Dr Dilip Nadkarni confirmed the worst. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the ligament connecting the lower bone with the femur, had torn. Dr Nadkarni said after a two-hour operation, ``The ACL had frayed at both ends. A repair was impossible, so I had to reconstruct the ACL by grafting a bone-tendon-bone from the front of the knee. The medial ligament was also partially torn and had to be repaired.''

Dr Nadkarni said the forward from Nagpada would be confined to crutches for three weeks, and will be able to jog in six months. It will take over eight months, if Shahid follows a rigid physiotherapy schedule, for him to play.

Knowing Shahid's unrelenting spirit, victims of his endearing game know he will. For inspiration, he has illustrious sportsmen who have recovered from a similar injury.

India's badminton player Gopi Chand hasseen his game improve after a ACL surgery in 1996. Dr Nadkarni said, ``It is 50 per cent surgery and 50 per cent workout. Gopi's success is an excellent example.''