MUMBAI, Nov 16: England's Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali will turn out for Rajasthan in Indian domestic competitions this season, a senior official of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) said on Thursday.

Their participation is expected to add a touch of glamour to otherwise dull domestic tournaments in a country considered to be the game's commercial hub.

“Vikram is Udaipur-born (in Rajasthan), so it was only natural that we invited him to play for us,” RCA secretary Subhash Joshi told Reuters.

Rajasthan is competing in the Elite group of the Ranji Trophy national championship which begins on Nov. 23.

Batsman Solanki, who plays for Worcestershire in the English country championship, has represented England in 51 One-day Internationals but is yet to be capped in Test cricket.

Medium-pacer Kabir is Solanki's team mate at Worcestershire and has played one test and 14 one-dayers.

The Indian board's regulations allow teams to include three players from outside their state as “professionals” with no restrictions on how many of the three can be foreigners.

However, foreign players are not new to Indian cricket.

India invited West Indian fast bowlers Roy Gilchrist, Chester Watson, Charlie Stayers and Lester King to play in the 1960s to help their batsmen adapt to pace and foster their own seam bowlers.

Maharashtra is being coached by Australian Darren Holder and former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam has coached Punjab. Delhi has asked former Pakistan paceman Sarfraz Nawaz to conduct a clinic for their medium pacers. —Reuters