Gautam Gambhir leaves Essex for family reasons

Essex overseas signing Gautam Gambhir has returned to his native India for family reasons.

The 31-year-old left-hander, who scored a century against Gloucestershire in the County Championship last week, only joined the county last month.

"Essex cricket is fully supportive of Gautam and very much hope he will return before the end of the season," the county said on their website.

Opener Gambhir has played 54 Tests for India since making his debut in 2004.

He has scored 4,021 Test runs at an average of 44.18, including nine centuries and 21 fifties.

The left-hander, who plays for Delhi in India, has also scored 11,411 first-class runs during a 14-year career.

He has only made four appearances for Essex, who are currently third in Division Two of the County Championship, but have a game in hand on Lancashire and Northants above them.