Hampshire are set to re-sign Australia star Glenn Maxwell as their second T20 overseas player.

Maxwell's return to the Ageas Bowl is expected to be confirmed on Monday and he is set to feature for the county in all forms of the game, as well as being a regular in the T20 Blast.

He will rejoin Hampshire after playing at the Indian Premier League, having been bought for $1m at this week's IPL auction for the second year running, this time by Kings XI Punjab.

Director of Cricket Giles White said: "I've spoken to [Cricket Australia's team performance manager] Pat Howard and we're close to completing the signing, it's all going in the right direction, we're very nearly there with it.

"Crucial to the deal is Glenn's availability for red-ball cricket should Kyle Abbot, our main overseas player, be unavailable.

"Cricket Australia see Glenn as a future Test player and they want him to develop that side of his game with us.

"That's something we want to help Glenn with so he'll play for our Second XI during the week and come in to the Championship team when Kyle is not available for any reason."

Maxwell has been centrally contracted by Cricket Australia since last April, having starred during his first stint with Hampshire in 2012.

He was a relative unknown back then, having arrived in England to play for South Wilts in the Southern Electric Premier League.

But he helped Hampshire win the limited-overs double by rejuvenating their t20 group campaign with two blistering fifties at Kent and Essex.

Maxwell may miss Hampshire’s first few games this year, depending on Kings XI Punjab’s IPL progress, but will return to the Ageas Bowl as a global T20 star.

Should Kings XI Punjab fail to qualify for the Champions League, he could play at least two Championship games at the end of the season, when Abbott will be at the T20 showpiece with the Sunfoil Dolphins.

And if Abbott is called up by South Africa for their tour of Zimbabwe in August, Maxwell would also play then.

The 25 year-old has played 26 first-class matches - including two Tests in India last March - and highlighted his red-ball ability as recently as last night with a record-breaking century in the Sheffield Shield, Australia’s domestic competition.