FHM Asks: Match or Mate?

Sports fanatics are very likely to find a passionate stranger who would discuss and analyse the big games with them. But that rarely happens with their significant others and in situations of conflict, they are forced to choose. The big game or the date? We asked 8 men about the time they had to make such a choice and all we can say is sports fans will be sports fans after all.

Sarab, 25, PR Associate, Chandigarh

It was during the Champions Trophy 2017. My ex and I were supposed to go out for a lunch date and I totally forgot that India was playing against South Africa that day. It was a crucial match. I called her in the morning to ask if she would like to come over and watch with me. To my surprise, she readily agreed. We spent the entire day together watching India defeat South Africa. We cheered and shouted and went for a long walk holding hands and eating ice cream, later that night. It was a great day!

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Dhruvan Sharma, 23, Sports Communication Manager, New Delhi

I have been supporting Liverpool Football Club since the past 10 years and when my team plays, everything else stops for 90 minutes. In October 2011, I had a date with a girl I was talking to then, but I cancelled it when I realised it would clash with Liverpool's game against its arch rival Manchester United. It is second nature for me to cancel or postpone plans due to football games and I told her the truth straight away and it didn't go down well with her. But there is nothing in this world I would swap my club for.

Tanzin Nawang, 24, New Delhi

It was an ODI during the New Zealand tour of India, back in 2016. I missed the match in Delhi but somehow got my hands on the tickets for the one in Mohali. Unfortunately that was also the weekend when my girlfriend was planning to visit me. I lied to her and told her that I was going home for that weekend because I couldn’t miss the match. I also had to convince my friends to not post my pictures or tag me anywhere on social media. India won the match and it was a risk worth taking.

Hitesh Gupta, 25, Businessman, Bangalore

My cousin and I, we are huge cricket fans. There is nothing we would rather do than watch a match together and scream on top of our voices. This one time, we got into an argument about the statistics of the cricket World Cup 2011. Amidst the arguing and proving my cousin wrong, I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to meet my girlfriend that evening. She called to ask and I told her I fell asleep, only to confess the truth later. So not exactly a choice but cricket made me forget a date which was scheduled well in advance.

Vineet Benjwal, 25, Newspaper Reporter, Dehradun

This one day I had to meet my girlfriend in the evening. It was also the last day of the Test match in which India beat West Indies by an inning in 2016. I wanted to watch the match till the last over but did not want to take the onus of cancelling the date. I told her that I had some unexpected guests come over and asked for more time. I kept watching the match and delaying our meeting by ‘15 minutes’, only for her to cancel the date in the end. Win-win!

Jai Bansal, 20, Student, Pune

It happened recently, during FIFA World Cup. It was the match between Germany and Mexico on a Sunday. I somehow thought it was on Monday and conveniently asked this girl out on Sunday evening. Just an hour before the match, my friend called to ask if I would like to join him for the match. And then I realised the huge mix-up. I was in serious trouble, I had to meet her in 15 minutes and the match would begin in an hour. I did what I had to, lied to her and went to my friend’s place.

Raghav Chauhan, 27, Businessman, Jalandhar

My family, we are a bunch of cricket maniacs. Anytime India is playing, we are in front of our TV sets. It was the semi-final between India and West Indies during T20 World Cup 2016. I had just started a new relationship. My girl asked me to meet her after work and I told her I had a family gathering which I couldn’t miss. She was disappointed but didn’t really say anything. I went ahead for our family gathering in my drawing room and witnessed India lose to the Windies.

Mithil Verma, 27, Banker, Hyderabad

I used to play football in school and have been a fan of the game ever since. I am a great supporter of our National team and don’t like to miss matches. Everyone knows this about me. This was the historic match where Sunil Chetri hit hat trick against Chinese Taipei and beat them by 5-0 in June this year. My girlfriend wanted to meet and kept calling and texting me during the match but I didn’t pick her calls and ultimately switched off my phone. She was royally pissed but the match was a delight!

From the October 2018 issue of FHM India.