Gautam Gambhir has signed with Essex county team and will play for them for the remainder of the season. The Indian opener has replaced New Zealand’s Hamish Rutherford as the county’s overseas player.

Gambhir, who is out of the national fold for the lack of runs, will look to utilize this opportunity to get match practice and regain his form. He is expected to join the Essex ahead of their County Championship match against Northamptonshire in Colchester that begins on August 20.

Once a mainstay at the Indian top-order in all formats, Gambhir was dropped from both the Test and ODI formats earlier this year. He was left out of the team that took on Australia in a home Test series and was also not included in the Champions Trophy and the tri-series in West Indies.

Gambhir’s experience of 11,274 first-class runs and 8,815 List A runs will come in handy for Essex as they eye promotion up the County ladder this season. The left-handed opener is the first Indian player to sign for a county team in the current season.

Harbhajan Singh played a few matches for Essex at the end of the 2012 season.