``It was the beginning of a fracture which could have developed into a complete fracture. He is lucky that it was diagnosed early,'' revealed Dr Anant Joshi, orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine expert who treated the Agarkar.

Speaking to The Indian Express this evening, Dr Joshi said: ``When he (Agarkar) was referred to me two days ago, he was experiencing pain in his left foot whenever he exerted. The affected area being the second toe. We decided to go for an immediate bone scan as it is the earliest method of detection. Normal X-rays wouldn't reveal the nature of the injury.

``Rest is the only treatment. There is no other way,'' opined Dr Joshi. ``He (Ajit) has to take sufficient care to ensure that the left foot is not exerted. Even walking has to be restricted and if at all he doeswalk, the maximum pressure ought to be on the heel rather than the toes.''

It would take more than six weeks before Agarkar makes it to the cricketing arena again. ``We would be assessing him again in four weeks time after which he can commence jogging on soft surfaces,'' said Dr Joshi. Such problems are occupational hazards of pacemen. Imran Khan and Dennis Lillee being glaring examples.

``In Lillee's case it was stress fracture of the spine which is of a serious nature... Fast bowlers do tend to develop such problems judging the load they undertake,'' explained Dr Joshi.

Former Test seamer Balwinder Singh Sandhu concurred with Dr Joshi. ``These injuries are rampant now as bowlers have to undertake a heavy load which includes bowling on hard surfaces like the ones at Sharjah,'' said the former Mumbai coach under whom Agarkar made his first-class debut.

During his forced hibernation, Agarkar can continue with upper body exercises like cycling and swimming to keep himself fit, according to DrJoshi.