Vikram Solanki

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	Tests	ODIs
Vikram Solanki England (Eng)

Batting style	Right hand bat
Bowling type	Right arm off break
Matches	-	51
Runs scored	-	1,097
Batting average	-	26.75
100s/50s	-	2/5
Top score	-	106
Overs bowled	-	18.3
Wickets	-	1
Bowling average	-	105.00
5 wickets in innings	-	-
10 wickets in match	-	n/a
Best bowling	-	1-17
Catches/stumpings	-/-	16/-
As of 2 October 2006 Source: Cricinfo.com

Vikram Singh Solanki (born 1 April 1976) is an English cricketer,

1 Early life and career
2 England A tours
3 One day internationals
4 Worcestershire
5 Rajasthan
- 5.1 Career milestones
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Solanki was born in Udaipur, India, but moved to Wolverhampton with his family at the age of eight. Solanki played junior and senior cricket for Wolverhampton cricket club where he was a childhood prodigy under coach Arthur Pickering he often starred as a wicket keeper, bowler and batsman, Solanki once scored over 100 in a twenty over game by himself. He made his first-class debut for Worcestershire in 1995, although he had played one-day cricket for the county two seasons earlier. In 1996 he was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award. In 1999 he achieved a batting average of over 40, something he repeated in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. 2006 was also the first season since 2000 in which he managed to top 1,000 first-class runs, making 1,252.

[edit] England A tours

Solanki was picked for two England A tours: to South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1998-99, and to Bangladesh and New Zealand in 1999-2000. His fine performances on these latter tours led to his making his full One Day International debut against the South Africans later that same winter. However, he was unable to translate his A-team feats into runs for the senior England side, and after eight innings yielding just 96 runs, he was dropped and not picked again for more than three years.

As of the end of the 2006 season, Solanki had represented England on 51 occasions in one-day cricket, but had still not been selected for a Test Match. His undoubted natural talent has only rarely come through into his performances for his country, and his England batting average languishes in the mid-twenties. He has made only two international hundreds, against South Africa at The Oval in 2003 and versus Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2004/05.

[edit] One day internationals

Solanki played in four of the five one day internationals when England toured Pakistan in December 2005, his best score of 49 also being the highest in England's innings in the final match, which England went on to win by 6 wickets. However, Solanki was not selected for the team to go on the tour to India, instead being chosen to captain the 'A' team in the West Indies.

On 1 July 2006, Solanki took his first wicket in ODIs at Headingley, removing Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya for 152. It was something of a hollow triumph, however, as Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga (109) had put on 286, a world record for the first wicket in ODIs, ^[1] and England were crushed as Sri Lanka scored 324/2 to win by eight wickets in just 37.3 overs.

Solanki made history in 2005 when he became the first substitute in a one day interntional cricket game against Australia.

[edit] Worcestershire

Solanki is also an occasional bowler of off-spin for Worcestershire, although he has only bowled a handful of overs for England. Worcestershire appointed Solanki as captain of the county for 2005, succeeding the retiring Steve Rhodes. In September 2006 he agreed an extension to his contract which will see him remain at the county until 2009. ^[2]

[edit] Rajasthan

Together with Worcestershire team-mate Kabir Ali, Solanki accepted an offer to play for Rajasthan in the Indian Ranji Trophy during the 2006–07 season.

[edit] Career milestones

22 June 1995: First-class debut for Worcestershire: v Hampshire at the County Ground, Southampton
16 May 1997: Maiden first-class century: 128* v Oxford University at The Parks, Oxford
23 January 2000: One Day International debut: v South Africa at Bloemfontein, South Africa
28 June 2003: Maiden ODI century: 106 v South Africa, The Oval, London