Zaheer and Uthappa swap franchises

Zaheer Khan and Robin Uthappa have swapped their IPL franchises in a move that will see them return to their domestic home sides. Brijesh Patel, the chief executive of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, the team Uthappa moves to from the Mumbai Indians, said the deal was "being finalised".

This is the second swap in the transfer window, the first seeing Shikhar Dhawan moving from Delhi to Mumbai in exchange for Ashish Nehra.

Talks on the deal started on December 22, the day the trading window opened. "In fact the team management was keen on getting Zaheer back when the inaugural IPL season was ending," a source in the Mumbai team said. "The trading window gave us the opportunity to express our interest."

Bangalore were not initially interested in trading Zaheer but warmed to the idea of Uthappa playing for his home city. Bangalore purchased Zaheer for US$450,000 in last year's auction while Mumbai paid $850,000 for Uthappa but sources in the Mumbai franchise say no money was involved in this deal.

Mumbai's reasons to pursue Zaheer seem two-fold: Uthappa had a lean run in the tournament's inaugural edition and is no longer a regular for India, while Zaheer's stock has risen in the last year. In 2008, Zaheer was one of India's key performers, ending the year with series-winning performances against Australia and England. Even if his IPL record was below-par - 13 wickets in 11 games at 27 - his current form makes him a better bet than Uthappa. Zaheer has also represented Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy in recent years, and bowled them to victory this season with an eight-wicket haul in the final.

Uthappa, who made 320 runs in 14 games in the IPL last year, dropped out of the national reckoning after failing to settle in the middle order in ODIs. But Bangalore will now hope Uthappa carries forward his healthy form during the Ranji Trophy, where he led Karnataka into the quarter-finals and finished with three centuries.

Zaheer will fill the void left by Shaun Pollock, who has decided not to return. Mumbai have also covered for Uthappa's exit by adding Dhawan.

Bangalore have also signed on Dillon du Preez, an Eagles and Leicestershire fast bowler, who was named one of South Africa's five Cricketers of the Year in 2008. du Preez was last season's leading-wicket taker in South Africa's first-class competition as he took 55 wickets at 16.90. He also took 12 wickets at a strike-rate of 40.2 in the recently-concluded domestic one-day competition in South Africa.