Gautam Gambhir has cut short his maiden stint in English county cricket with Essex to return to India for "family reasons", according to a statement released by Essex Cricket. Ignored by the national selectors for a while, Gambhir had signed up with the county in August.

"Gautam Gambhir returned to his native India on Sunday for family reasons," the Essex statement said. "At this stage Essex Cricket and Gautam are unable to make any further comment. Essex Cricket is fully supportive of Gautam and very much hope that he will return to Essex before the end of the 2013 English domestic season."

Gambhir had an underwhelming start with Essex but followed up scores of 31, 21, 2 and 0 with a second-innings hundred on August 30 against Gloucestershire in a drawn match in Bristol.

The short stint with Essex was Gambhir's first outing since the IPL in May. He was not part of the India side for the Champions Trophy, the tri-series in the West Indies and the ODI tour of Zimbabwe. His last game for his country was the final ODI against England at home in Dharamsala in January. He was recalled to the national side for the final Test against Australia in Delhi in March, before missing out after coming down with jaundice.