Imran Tahir: Hampshire re-sign South Africa leg-spinner

Tahir was born in Pakistan but gained South African citizenship at the beginning of 2011

Hampshire have re-signed leg-spinner Imran Tahir on a short-term contract, subject to visa clearance.

The 35-year-old will be available for the last two County Championship matches against Kent and Glamorgan.

Tahir, who has taken 40 Test match wickets for South Africa, has made 77 appearances for the club previously.

"It's the business end of the season and there is no [pace bowler] Kyle Abott," Hampshire director of cricket Giles White told BBC South Today.

"So Imran comes in and hopefully gets us over the line in terms of promotion.

"As the season goes on it's more conducive to spin, that and the fact he has been with us before means he will fit in easily and make a difference".

He first joined Hampshire in July 2008 and enjoyed his most successful season for the club in 2011, taking 50 wickets in all competitions.

However, that was the season when the club were relegated from Division One of the County Championship.

Hampshire are currently second in the Division Two table, 25 points behind leaders Worcestershire and eight ahead of Surrey in third, with only the top two going up to the top flight.

Although Tahir has taken almost 700 first-class wickets during his career, he has been less successful at international level with his Test victims costing him over 47 runs each.