Former Mumbai pacer Rajesh Verma passes away at 40

In a tragic development, former Mumbai pacer and Ranji Trophy winner Rajesh Verma passed away on Sunday.

Verma, 40, left for heavenly abode on Sunday following a massive heart-attack.

The news of his demise was confirmed by his fellow Mumbai teammate, Bhavin Thakkar, as reported by the Times of India.

"I'm completely shocked. We did our cricketing journey together since our Under-19 days. We would travel to the grounds together from Wadala. 20 days back, he was on a tour with me for BPCL. I spoke to him for 30 minutes yesterday evening, and today at 4am, I received a call that he was gone! He was a sweet person, a very close friend of mine. He came from a very humble background. He was a very talented pacer. In today's time, he would've done well in the IPL. He should have achieved much more than he did. He used to bowl yorkers at will. His yorker was unplayable," he told TOI.

The right-arm seamer made his First-Class debut during the 2002/03 season and went on to play 7 games over the course of the next 6 years. He also featured in 11 List-A games and 4 T20s between 2006-13.

Though he played just 7 First-Class games, Verma played a crucial role in Mumbai's Ranji Trophy triumph in 2006/07. His 4 wickets in the semi-final clash against Baroda proved to be vital in the context of the game as Mumbai eventually sealed the encounter by 63 runs.

‘’He was very threatening on that wicket, which was difficult. The pitch had grass and cracks. I played him in that game, and he didn't let the ball hit the bat in that game! We and Wasim laughed about how he would not let the batsman play on that wicket," Amol Muzumdar recalled.

Meanwhile, former cricketer Jatin Paranjape has also responded to the tragic development.

"It's terrible news. He was a fantastic bowler. He was an in-swing bowler, who had this gift that his ball would straighten after pitching. He benefitted a lot by bowling with fellow pacer Swapneel Hazare-both of them played for CCI and BPCL. I remember the day his father-who used to sell Vada Pav at a school in Wadala, got him to me and said: 'He's a good bowler, but he's not getting a chance to play anywhere.' He used to play for Matunga Gymkhana in 'F' Division, from where I took him to play for CCI in A Division. He troubled all the batsmen there, and we won five titles that year under my captaincy," 

Overall, Verma claimed 23 wickets in First-Class @ 28.73 and 20 & 5 in List-A and T20S respectively before hanging up his boots in 2013.