THE IPL Twenty20 tournament has the power to mend international cricket's destructive feuding, according to Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.

The tit-for-tat summer of spats is set to climax today when Australia and India clash at the SCG in the first final of the one-day series.

Gilchrist admitted the season had "got out of hand" and had been "exhausting", as much because of the off-field drama and political power plays as the on-field intensity.

But the retiring gloveman was hopeful relationships between international players could be enhanced by the cultural mix of the IPL.

Gilchrist said professional cricket had limited the chance for players to mix with international rivals.

In the IPL, they will become teammates.

For example, Australian captain Ricky Ponting will join Indian teenage firebrand Ishant Sharma at Kolkata, while MS Dhoni and Matthew Hayden have been partnered at Chennai Superkings.

"That's where I see something like the IPL's going to be ground-breaking territory," Gilchrist said.

"That's going to be an opportunity for players around the world to get to meet, know and understand opposition cultures and customs.

"I think that's going to be a very positive offshoot of IPL. Any world XI team I've ever played in there's always been a great camaraderie in the rooms."

The summer of discontent has boiled over so much that there are now suggestions of rumblings within the Australian dressingroom. Cricket Australia's decision to reprimand Matthew Hayden this week for calling Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious little weed" is seemingly another sign of CA appeasing the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

It's understood players feel let down by the a lack of support from CA, particularly in the Harbhajan Singh racial abuse case against Andrew Symonds.

Symonds has also been gagged, his exclusive column in The Sunday Mail withdrawn after CA insisted on overseeing it.

Gilchrist denied any conflict within Australian cricket ranks.

Asked if players had become pawns in a political battle, Gilchrist said: "There's been evidence that the players probably haven't been able to totally represent exactly how they've felt. There's no doubt about that.

"It's grown beyond just the cricket. It's a business now and I think people are mindful of that."

But Gilchrist said players also had a responsibility to adhere to professional standards, especially in the present fragile environment.

"I don't think the players can totally complain too much though because it's a professional world and we're the beneficiaries of that professionalism."

Gilchrist admitted professional sport had become "sanitised".

"I think the situation this summer has got out of hand somewhat," he said.

"Hopefully, over the next week we'll see some great cricket, the series will finish and we'll all just move on and forget the almost tit-for-tat reactions that have been going on."