Injury puts Bhutia out of action

India's football captain Baichung Bhutia has been ruled out for four months following major surgery on his damaged knee this weekend.

The Bury FC striker appeared to have regained full fitness two weeks ago when he scored a penalty in Bury reserves' 3-1 victory over Huddersfield Town, However, he experienced pain days later, and further tests confirmed that his kneee would have to be operated upon again.

"It's a massive blow for us," Bury boss Andy Preece told Bury Times. "To lose him, Matt Barrass and Chris Billy with similar injuries is awful luck. All three of them started the season in the first team and Baichung was going to be a big part of the team this season playing in a withdrawn role with Jon Newby."

The Bury Times said the injury is bound to raise doubts about whether the talented Indian will be seen in a Shakers shirt again as his contract with the Gigg Lane club is up at the end of the season."

The 25-year-old Gangtok-born ace joined Bury in September 1999. He was the first Asian player to play in the English Football League. Earlier this year, he led the Indian team at the pre-World Cup Group-8 matches.

Bhutia started his playing career when he was a student of the Sports Authority of India-adopted school Tashi Namgyal Institute in Gangtok. He shot into the limelight in 1993, when he signed for East Bengal, for who he played mostly, except for one year, 1997-'98, when he turned out for the Phagwara-based JCT Mills.

He was the highest scorer in 1997-98 National League, with 14 goals to his credit, despite not being able to play the first half of the league due to injury.