Vikram Solanki has been singled out for praise by the captain of England's one-day side who described him as an inspiration and role model for other younger players.

On the eve of England's NatWest  match against Zimbabwe at Headingley on Tuesday, Michael Vaughan urged aspiring members of his team to take a leaf out of Solanki's book.

In widely circulated comments, Vaughan agreed that most of his team's younger players had still to establish themselves as stars, but then added, "You'd have probably have said that about Vikram and he's gone and scored a hundred. Every day and every game is an opportunity for someone to do something special. There are a lot of young lads in the team and not many of them have played many games.

"Vikram has come out and played a special innings and all the lads in the dressing room have got the opportunity of doing something similar to Vikram in the next few games."

Vaughan was alluding to Solanki's stunning performance against South Africa last Saturday, when he hit 106 off 108 deliveries including 17 boundaries.

"He has a natural talent and it was there to see on Saturday; he's such a fluent, natural batsman," said Vaughan.

"It was just a case of trying to get that ability out of him to go out there and play with the same freedom that he has done for Worcestershire for the last few years.

"Looking at his face when he reached his three figures there was a huge delight there."

Vaughan himself played 11 Tests before scoring his first century and is all too aware how the first success for younger players can be the lure that draws them on to greater achievements.

"It's a huge milestone to get your first international hundred and to do it in the manner that he did it against a very good South African team was impressive," added Vaughan.

"It showed good character and good strength of mind to come back from a couple of low scores to play with freedom and the array of shots that he did.

"Vikram is that kind of player where one day he will get a low score and then against South Africa he came out and played exceptionally well.

"We accept that, but he's just a natural stroke player. We're not asking him to change his way at all; we want him to play exactly as he has done. He's naturally played all the way around the wicket -- he's a very talented player."

Solanki's performance has so impressed the selectors that it may result in Vaughan being pushed further down the batting order.

"Someone wrote that I should go and open the batting, well I think that's been put to one side," Vaughan said . "People have been suggesting I should open, but there's no way I can do that now when Vikram plays like that."