Raut, Kamran vindicate Warne

MUMBAI: South African star Jacques Kallis, in his column, wrote that tense youngsters out to prove themselves, won't always succeed in the IPL. Two lads chose the same day to prove otherwise.
One was Nashik lad, 22-year-old debutant Abhishek Raut, who struck 21 of 13 balls and 18 in the last to set the stage for Rajasthan Royals' exciting win over KKR.The other was 20-year-old left-armer Kamran Khan who vindicated Shane Warne not once but twice.
Once when he was handed the death over and grabbed the wicket of the conquering Saurav Ganguly and gave just one run off the last ball when Ishant Sharma was run out to force the tie.
And next when again given the Super Over in the eliminator in which Kamran gave away just 15 runs to the likes of Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum when it could have been 30-plus.
Warne has suddenly found a replacement for Pakistani left-armer Sohail Tanvir his match-winner of the first edition.
Kamran's mentor, Naushad Khan, said, "Never thought this lad would mature so fast. All blessings of you media people who highlighted him."
Naushad brought Kamran from a village in UP to play in Mumbai for his team Young Mohammedan. Iqbal Shaikh got him to play for the Mumbai Police side for whom he did well in the DY Patil T20 where Rajasthan Royals' coach Darren Berry spotted him and picked him.
Naushad's worry now is how to get Kamran a first-class side spot. Mumbai has brought a rule where a player must play three years in the city to be eligible for their teams. Kamran has just one and a half. Naushad said teams like Baroda and UP could be the options.
Had the rule of three years been in force Abhishek Raut would have been cooling his heels after being rejected by Maharashtra Ranji selectors.
Abhishek Raut, in debut IPL game, had a lot to prove. He has been a competitor for Dinesh Salunkhe, a Shane Warne favourite in the first season, who was sent back.
Raut (should be Rout) is not a Maharashtrian as his surname would suggest but hails from Orissa. His father lives in Nashik. He played two Ranji games for Maharashtra in 2007-08 and was dumped. He had been a star of Maharashtra's u-19 triumph.
Mumbai opened their doors to Raut at the start of the season and he did well for them in the CK Nayudu u-22 event with three hundreds. At the end of the season he even got a place in the One-dayers nudging out Dinesh Salunkhe because he is a better fielder. Raut got a quick 20-odd for Mumbai.
As a 12-year-old, Raut had been recommended by Frank Tyson to the CCI academy and coach Nari Contractor persevered with him even though he was failing only because of Tyson's word.
Ironically Raut and Paul Valthaty who both played for Rajasthan Royals on Thursday night had both been rejected by Buchanan's KKR after trials .
Raut was taken by DY Patil Sports Club and blossomed under Abey Kuruvilla's guidance. Said Abey,"He did well for us in the DY Patil T20 Cup in every match at No 6. And his fielding is superb and his leg spin bowling is a bonus."
Mumbai should be lucky their youngsters are proving Kallis wrong. And there's Siddharth Chitnis waiting in the Rajasthan wings and Shoaib Shaikh and Iqbal Abdulla for Kolkata and Rahil Shaikh for Mumbai Indians.