Australia's Adam Gilchrist will take part in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament in April, the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed .

The tournament organisers had agreed with most international boards, including Australia, not to choose players until they had been retired for at least two years and Gilchrist, 36, is retiring from international cricket next month.

The Indian board has given the IPL governing body the powers to do away with the rules on the two-year "cooling off" period for recently retired players.

Australian players are in danger of losing their contracts because of a sponsorship row between Cricket Australia (CA) and IPL, however.

The CA want protection for its sponsors during the IPL, a request the organisers rejected.

The league, expected to feature many of the game's top players, is an effort to counter an unofficial Indian Twenty20 league which began late last year.

The 44-day IPL starts on April 18. Teams will play home and away games leading to a grand final. The first year will feature 59 matches played in late afternoon for prime-time television.