Deflated and heartbroken, we started analysing the cost of this venture. The guilt, negativity, and everything else around crept in. We were in a dilemma, should we go to Kolkata? We have everything booked.

I wish I had an amazing story to tell you about Kolkata and the World Cup Final, but unfortunately, I don't.

We decided it's a lose-lose situation for us after weighing all the pros and cons. We don't want to see England win the World Cup on Indian soil because of "Desh Bhakti" (patriotism), and we couldn't imagine seeing West Indies win it, too, because they knocked us out. We wanted both teams to lose, but that was never happening.

We decided to get back to Dubai and move on with our lives.

When we watched the finals on the telly and saw 4 sixes being dispatched off the last over, we cursed ourselves,

Hindsight is a wonderful thing; today, I look back, and I feel it would have been an entertaining game of cricket, we'd have seen a new city together, and the older you get, you realize that quality moments like these with your parents don't come knocking every day.

I wrote this article yesterday, on 2nd April when cricket's greatest prize was ours. The ICC Cricket World Cup. Finally,

We all have a vivid memory of where we were when Dhoni hit the winning runs, and it truly was a special feeling. While Mahendra Singh Dhoni deserves immense credit for taking the responsibility, being tactically aware and promoting himself up the order. Yuvraj Singh for being Mr Consistent throughout the tournament;

The entire squad brought this home. Tournaments are rarely a one-person show. I feel there were way too many unsung heroes who didn't get enough credit.

Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina.

I was lucky enough to be in Mumbai during my college days and was in a similar dilemma. I really wanted to go to Wankhede to watch the finals. The tickets were ranging from 70,000 INR to 300,000 INR (1500 US$ - 6500 US$) then. A lot of money for a 19-year-old college kid. The idea of asking my parents crossed my mind, but the hesitation due to my academic challenges during that period held me back.

I had an amazing experience watching it at a close friends place with some of my best mates. When Dhoni hit that six, we jumped, cried, and celebrated. Mumbai was the place to be that day, every street; every corner was raging like there was no tomorrow. We'd never seen anything like this.

Strangers hugging, dancing, feeding each other sweets, pouring beer down each other's throats, what a day. It felt like 1 billion people had lifted the World Cup. While I wish I would have been on the ground to experience the magic, 2nd April 2011 will truly be one of the greatest days of my life. It could have been greater, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Such is the beauty of sport.

With my Wankhede Woes experience, maybe it was best I wasn't there. All cricketers are superstitious; the fans aren't any less. Whenever I've taken a plunge of faith to watch India, I've seen us lose more often than win. Maybe it's me; maybe I'm the woe. More on those experiences later.

My advice to anyone reading is, make those opportunities count. Life rarely presents you with the chance to make epic memories. Very few people can claim to have missed two world cup finals in 5 odd years.

After these experiences over the past 10 days, my mind figured out ways to make playing cricket happen. Stay tuned to find out how I paved my return to the 22 yards.