Vikram Solanki’s innings of 106, which helped England to a convincing six-wicket win over ring-rusty South Africans, could yet be seen as a watershed in the drive to harness the talent and affinity for the game of young Asians. Solanki, like Nasser Hussain was born in India, and is one of the hottest prospects for English cricket. In fact there is a whole slew of desi’s who are knocking on the proverbial door when it comes to English cricket.

Aftab Habib, Usman Afzaal, and Kabir Ali are said to be hot prospects. “Solanki is the first to make an indelible mark perhaps since KS Duleepsinhji made a century against New Zealand at The Oval in 1931.,” writes the Guardian. [Guardian Unlimited]

“Before his wonderful innings of 106 on Saturday Solanki, like England, had something to prove. A weak performance against Zimbabwe had, to a large extent, undermined the gains made in defeating Pakistan 2-1 in the NatWest Challenge. During these matches Solanki has shown several glimpses of his talent without going on to finish the job,” gushes Angus Fraser in his column published by The Independent. Till now, Solanki had not been able to nudge past 50 in 11 attempts.