Kevin Pietersen pulls out of Indian Premier League 2017 auction due to hectic schedule

New Delhi: Discarded England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has ruled himself out of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

KP, who played for the Melbourne Stars in the recently concluded Big Bash League (BBL), tweeted on Friday, "FYI - I won't be going into the IPL auction. My winter has been too busy with all my travel & I don't want to spend April/May away too!"

FYI - I won't be going into the IPL auction. My winter has been too busy with all my travel & I don't want to spend April/May away too!

— KP (@KP24) February 3, 2017

KP was recently in news after Australian cricket coach Darren Lehmann lashed out heavily at him for a poor show in the BBL semi-final against Perth Scorchers.

Lehmann asked the Stars to "move him on" after Pietersen managed only five runs from 10 balls before succumbing to Mitchell Johnson.

“Time for stars to move KP on, spent to much money on him and didn’t win. Don’t want to listen to his excuses anymore,” read Lehmann’s tweet, which was later deleted.