a practice session. Bangladesh were undefeated in the three-match ODI series, with Mortaza collecting four wickets at 22.75 and a man-of-the-match award. 2008-2009 In August and September 2008, Bangladesh toured Australia for three ODIs. Before the ODIs started, Mortaza was struggling with his persistent knee injury. Bangladesh lost all three matches, and although not missing a match, Mortaza failed to take a wicket. After the series, doctors examined the knee and identified a collection of fluid in Mortaza's left knee. He was told that he can continue bowling for up to a year, but then he will require minor surgery to drain the fluid. The operation would keep him from playing cricket for six to eight weeks. In September 2008, Mortaza was approached by the Indian Cricket League to join the newly formed Dhaka Warriors. The league was not legitimate according to the ICC, whose lead was followed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), and the 13 players who chose to join were given 10-year bans by the BCB. Mortaza turned down the offer, asserting that his main priority was to play for Bangladesh. When New Zealand toured Bangladesh in October 2008, Mortaza was part of Bangladesh's maiden ODI victory against New Zealand. He took 4/44 as his team won by seven wickets, but the team went on to lose the series 2–1. He finished as the series leading wicket-taker. In the two-match Test series which followed, Mortaza took three wickets at an average of 28.33 and scored 92 runs at an average of 30.66 as Bangladesh lost the series 1–0. When Bangladesh toured South Africa in November 2008, Bangladesh lost the two-match and three-match Test and ODI series 2–0 and 3–0 respectively. Mortaza was forced to miss out on Bangladesh's warm-up match due to a sore back, but played in all the Tests and ODIs, taking two expensive wickets in each series. On 6 February 2009, an auction was held in which teams in the Indian Premier League made bids for players for the 2009 Indian Premier League, the second season of the competition. Mortaza's starting price was US$50,000; the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Kings XI Punjab were involved in a bidding war over Mortaza, driving up his price. The winning bid was US$600,000 by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Preity Zinta, a stake holder in the Kings XI Punjab team, said "Mortaza is a great player, an all-rounder