Matthew Hayden has poured cold water on the notion he could put his IPL franchise ahead of his country.

The Chennai Super Kings are set to participate in the proposed Champions League Twenty20 tournament in September and October, the same time as Australia are touring India.

That seemingly puts Hayden and Super Kings team-mate Matthew Hussey in the middle of a club-versus-country row.

But Hayden told The Australian the players' IPL contracts specify Australia will always come first.

He said: "The rule is simple on this one. If we are playing for Australia in any form our decision will be to honour that commitment first.

"There are no grey areas here."

The statement is at odds with IPL commissioner IS Bindra, who claimed the pair "will play for the Chennai team" in the tournament, which will throw the top two Twenty20 teams from India, Australia, South Africa and England against each other.

Already qualified are Victoria, Western Australia, the Rajasthan Royals, the Super Kings and South African pair the Titans and Kwazulu Natal Dolphins.

England's Twenty20 Cup is ongoing, with the two finalists supposed to qualify.

However, with a number of counties boasting at least one Indian Cricket League player and Bindra determined to have no representatives of the rebel tournament on board, the Champions League organisers could be poised for another battle.