As a kid growing up in the 90s, the only contests that mattered to me in sport were

Wasim Akram vs Sachin Tendulkar

Shoaib Akhtar vs Virender Sehwag

Shahid Afridi vs Rahul Dravid

Basically,

INDIA VS PAKISTAN

This fixture is undoubtedly the greatest day in the calendar year. It's far more special now as we don't play each other as much as we used to, except the big tournaments. It's an actual bummer that test cricket has entirely stopped between the two nations.

Since I've only written about my loss stories, I thought I'd start the day with the only positive one in recent times, considering today is the big day.

I was in Mumbai 4 days before India vs Pakistan in Manchester during the 50 Over World Cup a couple of years ago. My dad was in London. He'd gone for India vs Australia and witnessed a thrilling win.

While at work at my office in Mumbai, I got a text from my friend Deepak who was already in the UK, "Bro, I have two tickets. Are you in?"

Luckily I had a UK visa. I told my dad, book your flight to Manchester. We're going for India vs Pakistan. The next day, I was on my way to Manchester to watch the big game. I went to London, and we took the train to Manchester one day before the game.

We reached Manchester, and I met one of my super close Pakistani friends Aamir for lunch; we went to a crazy restaurant in the city's heart and bantered away, having digs at one another. While waiting for our table, we saw Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar. I awkwardly made eye contact with DK, and he nodded; I asked him for a picture, he obliged, and I wished him luck.

The following day we reached the ground; I watched an India vs Pakistan game live after 17-18 years. The atmosphere and energy, unlike any other.

It was a pretty one-sided affair, with rain being a buzz-kill. However, I finally had a positive story to watching live sport. I watched a solid Rohit Sharma 100, an incredible 70 odd from Virat and an overall convincing win with almost no stress.

It was surreal after decades of watching this fixture in Sharjah as a kid to watching it in Manchester. Thank you, Deepak Khasturi, for hooking me up with the tickets (The OG DK.)

I told myself I'd make a conscious effort to go for more games with dad when given the opportunity. Now the World Cup is here, and my dad isn't in the country.

For a couple of weeks in the build-up to the game, I was frantically looking to buy tickets when India vs Pakistan was announced in the UAE. The greatest fixture of all time is happening in my backyard; I couldn't miss it for the world.

I spent hours on the website only to be left with disappointment.

Since the tickets didn't work out, one of my closest mates, Anuraag (the one I started playing cricket with), made a plan with a couple of guys from school + my closest people to watch it at a bar. Last night before going to bed, I thought, let me try my luck again.

And I had 4 TICKETS IN MY CART, at face f*****g value. I go to the next stage, I think, should I bail on my friends? My instincts took over, and my thumb pressed the pay now button. I thought I'd figure it out. I reach the OTP stage, and I get the code; my brain is like, "Dude, buy it. It's the greatest fixture of all time", my heart is like ", No man, you can't bail on people you've promised to go with and who are excited to watch it with you."

Instinctively, it just felt wrong, so I went back. I ended up not buying it. Now those tickets have gone.

It goes without saying, I've received a lot of stick from many of my friends for not making the purchase.

I am partially torn about my decision not to buy the tickets. A massive part of me didn't want to bail on some of the closest people in my life. I partially feel I've grown and evolved to let go of this opportunity and focus on the people and relationships that matter in life. A part of me feels like an absolute idiot for not grabbing it with both hands. Where has the impulsive kid who booked a flight ticket to Manchester on a one day notice gone?

I guess this will be a question I will figure the answer to overtime.

Was this a mistake? I think we'll find out tonight.

Until then, COME ON, INDIA!