Rajasthan Royals have been known to scout young talent since the inception of IPL and Abhishek Raut was one of such youngsters to be given a chance by the franchise. A decent all-rounder, who can bat in the lower-middle order and bowl gentle leg-breaks, Raut made his IPL debut in 2009 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. He was only in early 20s and little he had known about how it feels like to share the dressing room with the legends of the game. But, on his debut against the Knight Riders, Raut showed nerves of steel and played a sweet little cameo. It was due to his crucial knock that the Royals notched up a score of 150 which was then considered to be a challenging total. And it couldn't have been a better debut for Raut as the Royals won the one-over Eliminator against the Knight Riders - yes it's the same match Yusuf Pathan bashed Ajantha Mendis, we're talking about.
In the same season, Abhishek also played another match defining knock against Deccan Chargers to take Royals home with his unbeaten knock of 36*. Rajasthan recovered from 3/3 to reach a target of 142 in the 20th over, and it was Raut's game changing stand with Yusuf Pathan that helped them take down a strong side like Deccan Chargers. That innings by Raut in Port Elizabeth (South Africa) remains to be one of his most remarkable knocks in IPL. But following these few games in IPL, Raut failed to make it big as a result of his inconsistent run. In the Ranji Trophy, Raut has played for Mumbai and Maharashtra in the past but with the emergence of other young players in those teams, Raut has moved to Odisha to represent their domestic team.
