Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel has withdrawn from the Indian Premier League auction to focus his efforts on winning a place in England's Test side.The 26-year-old's representatives had held talks with several franchises.
But after playing in England's last six one-day internationals, he has pulled out of the IPL to push his Test claims.
"My biggest ambition is to play Test cricket and I need to score a high volume of runs in the Championship to push my case," said Patel.
"If I was selected for the IPL then I would miss several Championship matches and that won't help me at a time when I need to do everything I can to impress the selectors.
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Before this year, Patel made all his previous one-day international appearances in 2008.
"I have listened to the advice from people that I trust and it is clear that this decision is the right one to have made for cricket reasons.
"The IPL is an exciting tournament and I would like to be involved in it in the future but not to the detriment of my England ambitions."
Patel returned to England's one-day international side during the summer after nearly three years in exile because of concerns about his fitness.
He played in all five of the games on the recent tour of India, hitting70 not out in the defeat in Mohali.
But he will face a battle to force his way into the Test side, with captain Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan forming an established top six, and Essex batsman Ravi Bopara also waiting in the wings.
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