New Delhi: The chill in Indo-Pak relations hasn't affected the Twenty20 warm-up game being played at the Oval in England between the two countries.
The two teams are meeting for the first time since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks but there's still no unanimity on whether India should be playing Pakistan at all.
Cricket has often been the one bonding factor between the two neighbours despite years of political tension and is the most intense rivalry in the sport.
But the Indian government is split down the middle over the match.
Sports Minister M S Gill has said that the two neighbours should continue to play each other,\.
"It is good that the match is taking place. We should play against each other and not fight," said Gill.
Gill has support of the Pakistani team too.
"It is very good news for cricketers. We obviously want to play cricket. We have not been able to speak to Chairman of cricket board. Government reaction has not reached me, I am sure it will in time but all and all I think it is a step in the right direction," said Pakistan cricket team manager Yawar Saeed.
But on the other side of the divide is India's new External Affairs Minister S M Krishna.
Krishna has inherited Indo-Pak relations at their lowest after the Mumbai terror attack and further compounded by the release of Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and he isn't sharing Gill's enthusiasm.
"Well that is something that will have to be dealt with the Sports Ministry," Krishna replied when asked to comment on the India-Pakistan Twenty20 cricket match.
The two teams won't play an official game in the World Twenty20 tournament unless both reach the final.
While fans will be counting on that to happen, regular India-Pakistan clashes on a cricket field may take a while yet.
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