Although principally taken on by Worcestestershire as a batsman, on his first-class debut, due to there being no fit spinners available, he was selected to bowl his off breaks – something he had done with a degree of success the previous winter while on tour with England U19.

Although generally an occasional bowler, Solanki produced a ten-wicket haul, five wickets in each innings, against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1996.

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

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.

[8] After showing good form in the first half of the 2009 season Solanki was called up to the England Lions squad for their fixture against Australia.

On 1 July 2006, Solanki took his first wicket in ODIs at Headingley, removing Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya for 152.

[15] He also took part in the final two matches of England's time in the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship, replacing the injured Matt Prior.

[18] In January 2022, Solanki ended his nine-year association with the Surrey CCC after being appointed as the Director of Cricket of the newly added IPL franchise Gujarat Titans ahead of the Mega Auction 2022.