NEWS » her Yadav (101*) brought up his hundred,

Virat Kohlis rapid and sustained rise over the last few years has brought inevitable comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar. In less than a decade since making his ODI debut, Kohli has marked himself out by acing the chasing game. He has numbers to go with it: 14 hundreds in successful chases, already level with Tendulkar. Kohli has batted in 59 successful chases, Tendulkar did so in 124.As with Tendulkar, Kohlis dismissals are greeted with gasps of resignation. When Kohli got out in Delhi and Ranchi, for 9 and 45 respectively, there was that sudden, piercing silence again, one that most Indian cricket fans who grew up in the 90s would be familiar with. The immediate throwaway line has been: its just like Tendulkar, Kohli gone, India lose. Especially in chases; in 2015, for instance, Kohli scored less than 12 in four of the five ODIs India lost chasing. Is it then a throwback to the era when Tendulkars failure would inevitably result in Indias defeat or is it just an emotional reaction?There is no doubt India win much more often when Kohli scores a fifty or more in a chase. While chasing 200 or more, India have won 23 of 32 games when Kohli has completed his half-century. When Kohli hasnt reached fifty, India have managed only 20 wins from 44 chases of over 200. In those 20 chases that were won without a big contribution from Kohli, there were 36 scores of 50 or more from other specialist batsmen. Rohit Sharma has scored seven of those.MS Dhoni, too, doesnt believe India is a one-batsman team, and isnt inclined to read too much into the numbers thrown up because the sample is not large enough for him. If you see the last one, one-and-a-half years, we havent played a lot of ODI cricket, he said after India lost to New Zealand by 19 runs in Ranchi. I can say that the stats actually dont reflect the exact scenario because also at that period I have batted at a different position and our top order was batting brilliantly.The numbers largely appear to corroborate Dhonis view. In all ODIs where India have chased since 2014, they have won five games and lost as many when Kohli has scored at least 50. He has scored two hundreds and three fifties in losing causes during this period. In the 17 games that Kohli has scored less than 50, Indias record hasnt been too bad: they have won nine wins and lost eight. In the nine wins that came without Kohli making a half-century, Shikhar Dhawan has contributed a century and four half-centuries while Rohit Sharma has struck three fifties. The rest of the batsmen have chipped in with four hundreds and three fifties. Kohli has scored 25.76% (813 out of 3156) of Indias top-order runs in successful chases in ODIs since 2014. Dhawan is second on the list with 18.25%.These numbers reveal that despite Kohlis overwhelming contribution to Indias successful chases, the team hasnt been overly dependent on him. However, the numbers dont tell you what happens when India fail despite a Kohli century or fifty. What happens after he is gone?A good example of how Kohlis dismissal exposes a middle order that isnt well versed in finishing games came in Canberra at the start of the year. Set a target of 349, Kohli and Dhawan racked up hundreds. At 277 for 1 in the 38th over, India looked like they would complete the chase fairly easily, but once Kohli departed within two overs of the dismissals of Dhawan and Dhoni, Indias middle order unravelled, with only Ravindra Jadeja getting into double digits.Similarly in the Rajkot ODI against South Africa, Kohli batted deep but his departure, with 55 required off 29 balls, snuffed out Indias chase. When the Tendulkar-falls-India-lose era ended, India had match-winners following him: Rahul Dravid, Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh. That Dhoni is not finishing matches now, and that Indias two other match-winners in recent times - Rohit and Dhawan - bat before Kohli accentuates the Kohli-falls-India-lose impression.The numbers will tell you India are not over-dependent on Kohli - at least not yet - but the impression they are coincides with their struggle to find somebody who can make his own the slot vacated by Yuvraj. Not even Suresh Raina - good as he has been - has been able to provide that presence consistently. With Dhoni moving up to No.4, suggesting the youngsters need to learn finishing innings by themselves, Indias overreliance on Kohli may be more than just a feeling.Thon Maker Jersey . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. D. J. Wilson Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. http://www.cheapbucksjerseys.com/ . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Sterling Brown Jersey . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Matthew Dellavedova Jersey . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona.Himachal Pradesh came back strongly against Kerala to win by six wickets, on the third day of their Group C fixture in Kolkata. Himachal, resuming on 198 for 8, were bowled out for 261. Sumeet Varma followed up his century in the previous game with an unbeaten 50 while batting with the tail as Himachal secured a 13-run lead.In reply, Kerala were shot out for 115 in 44.5 overs. Offspinner Gurvinder Singh and left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar were Himachals best bowlers, taking 5 for 37 and 3 for 25 respectively. Himachal chased down their 103-run target in 25 overs.Jammu & Kashmir beat Goa by 116 runs in their second-round Group C match in Surat. This was Goas second outright loss this season.They began the day on 22 for 0 in chase of 412. Openers Darshan Misal (42) and Swapnil Asnodkar (47) put on 87 before Samiullah Beigh, the medium pacer, separated them to trigger a collapse that reduced them to 116 to 4. Parveez Rasool ran through the line up to pick up his seventh five-wicket haul; he finished with 5 for 89. Wicketkeeper Samar Dubhashi resisted with an unbeaten 79, with the last two batsmen complementing him for close to 35 overs, but it wasnt enough to avoid defeat.Andhra were precariously placed at stumps, trailing by 73 with six wickets in hand, after being forced to follow on by newcomers Chhattisgarh in Kalyani. Andhra lost overnight batsmen Dwaraka Ravi Teja (30) and Ashwin Hebbar (19) within three overs on the third morning. They folded up on 199, well short of avoiding the follow on. Medium-pacer Pankaj Rao finished wiith figures of 4 for 70 on debut.dddddddddddd.Andhra started well in the second innings, as the openers put on a patient 75. However, they lost 3 for 15 in the last hour of play to slip to 118 for 4, a collapse that started with the wicket of KS Bharat who scored 57 off 177 balls. Hanuma Vihari, the captain, was unbeaten on 29 at stumps.Tripura were made to work for the last Services wicket in the morning, but ended the day 322 runs ahead in Guwahati. Services only highlight of the day came early on, when overnight batsman Shamsher Yadav (101*) brought up his hundred, before No. 11 Raj Bahadur fell to Manisankar Murasingh to concede a 42-run lead.Tripura lost opener Bishal Ghosh with the score on 14, but suffered no further damage as Udiyan Bose and Smit Patel put on an unbroken 266-run partnership to take them to 280 for 1. Bose was on 152, his maiden first-class century, and Patel was on 104, at stumps.Hyderabad slipped to 102 for 5 at stumps against Haryana after conceding a first innings lead of 140 in Jamshedpur. Haryana, who began on 236 for 4, were bowled out for 331, with Chaitanya Bishnoi top scoring with 73. Left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan took the last four wickets, to end with 6 for 93 in his 40.4 overs. In the second innings, Hyderabad lost top-scorer B Aniurdh (33) and captain S Badrinath in consecutive overs. Medium-pacer Sanjay Pahal and legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets each. ' ' '