IPL should cool Test tensions

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is confident the Indian Premier League will continue to cool any lingering tension between Indian and Australian players following their fiery four-match Test series.

The former Test skipper has also backed the conduct of his contemporary Steve Smith during the recent Border-Gavaskar contest, saying Australian fans would have been proud of how the 27-year-old "puffed his chest out" and led from the front during four fiercely competitive Tests that Ponting said was "some of the best Test cricket I've seen in a long time", reports cricket.com.au

Recent Test foes have become T20 friends for the next month or so, with seven members of Australia's Test squad lining-up alongside some of their Indian rivals at their respective IPL franchises.

Smith and Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane are playing together at the Rising Pune Supergiant while Glenn Maxwell and Murali Vijay (Kings XI Punjab), David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad) as well as Pat Cummins and Karun Nair (Delhi Daredevils) also sharing a dressing room.

And while India's skipper Virat Kohli won't count any of his recent Test opponents as teammates, he will play alongside Australians Shane Watson, Travis Head and Billy Stanlake at the Royal Challengers Bangalore.