After successfully spearheading the Baroda attack for seven long years, veteran paceman Zaheer Khan has decided to snap ties with the Baroda Cricket Association and play for Mumbai in the coming Ranji Trophy championship.
Sources said Zaheer, who is currently playing English county cricket for Worcestershire, would return soon and complete formalities with the BCA, which had inducted the Mumbai southpaw in its Ranji squad in the 1999-2000 season and helped him make his debut in first class cricket.
Some senior Baroda cricketers alleged that Zaheer, who is out of the Indian team for over seven months now, had virtually no option but to quit Baroda because of continued ''neglect'' and ''a raw deal'' he received from officials of the BCA in the last couple of years.
It was because of Zaheer's outstanding performance with the ball (match figures of 7-135) that the Baroda regained lost glory in the 2000-2001 season, when the side lifted the Ranji Trophy for the second time after 1957-58, defeating Railways by 21 runs in the final.
BCA joint-secretary Rakesh Patel admitted that Zaheer's loss would be a big blow to the team and very difficult to fill. The speedster has been named in the 'India Red' team for the Challenger Trophy series, beginning October 1.
Before leaving for the Pakistan tour in January, Zaheer had played his last Ranji match for Baroda in December 2005 and returned remarkable match figures of 10-118 that enabled Baroda to score a four-wicket victory over Punjab.
With the September 30 deadline for cricketers to change sides approaching fast, the BCA is reportedly trying to rope in some of the prominent players from the Mumbai and other state teams for the forthcoming season.
