Mumbai Indians, led by Sachin Tendulkar, have swapped Karnataka Ranji Trophy captain Robin Uthappa for left-arm pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who represented Bangalore's Royal Challengers in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League last year, at no cost to either franchise.
"It happened last night. We have traded Uthappa for Zaheer at no cost. We had earlier swapped our player Ashish Nehra with Delhi Daredevils batsman Shikhar Dhawan. We have thus maintained the balance of the team," said a spokesperson for the Reliance Industries-owned Mumbai Indians.
"These are the only two trade-offs that have taken place as far as we know," the spokesperson added on Thursday, the closing day of the month-long IPL players' trading window.
The move was on the cards, as the Bangalore outfit had shown keen interest in listing the flamboyant Uthappa.
In-form bowler Zaheer played a crucial role in Mumbai outclassing Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy final at Hyderabad recently.