Two Nail-biters in two days!

Graeme McDowell is short for an Irishman. He is strongly built with a full head of hair, and facial hair somewhere in-between a stubble and a full beard. He also happens to be one of the best professional golfers in the world.

McDowell methodically won his singles match against the American Hunter Mahan to complete one of the closest ever Ryder Cup wins for Europe against the USA. Those who think of golf as an individual sport would surely have changed their mind after watching this absolutely fabulous tournament.

After almost 4 days of competition Europe and America were tied with 13.5 points each. And it all came down to McDowell's match. He was calm, he was focused, and he was relentless. The putt he nailed to win the 16th hole will become part of Ryder Cup folklore. In all this euphoria, it was important to remember that it was the European team that won the cup, not McDowell the individual. McDowell was the finisher, the final blow. But it was equally important that the Molinari brothers salvaged the half point on the 18th in their four-ball match. The 46-year old Jiminez won his singles game, Luke Donald scored 3 points overall, and Colin Montgomerie marshalled his troops well.

6,500 miles away in Mohali, another nail-biter unfolded less than 24 hours later. This time it was two very good cricket teams battling it out to win a Test Match. In a match that had fluctuated like the Sensex, India were down and out on the last day at 124 for 8, with 92 more runs required for an almost impossible win. At the crease were two injured men, both on pain-killers. VVS Laxman was struggling with back-spasms, and Ishant Sharma had a bum knee. What unfolded in the next few hours will be remembered for a long, long time. Laxman and Sharma battled hard, and played smartly. They fashioned an unlikely 81 run partnership that turned the tables on Australia, and enabled India to win by one wicket. Laxman was absolutely relentless till the very end. What a match!

Again, in this hoopla, it is important to remember that the team won. Without Zaheer and Ojha's bowling and the four Indian half centuries in the first innings, Ishant Sharma's three wicket burst in the Aussie second innings, Raina's run out of Ponting, and many other such small things, India may not have won.

For me, it once again reinforces the notion that winning is not an event, it is a process. Winning is about being relentless. Someone once told me on the golf course: Never give up, and never let up.

These two nail-biting finishes in the last couple of days have only reinforced that principle.