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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. Nick Holden Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. 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Former Socceroo Luke DeVeres career is not in jeopardy despite the luckless defender suffering yet another injury setback, Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi insists.DeVere has had a knee operation which means he wont be able to train with his teammates until at least the end of August.The 26-year-old has not played a first-team game for the Roar since last years friendly against Spanish side Villarreal, in which he aggravated an old quadriceps injury to the point where he needed surgery.DeVere later said he felt as if he was pushed into a match he didnt feel physically ready for.The Roar has kept DeVere in cotton wool ever since but there appear to be genuine doubts over his ability to contribute to their A-League campaign - at least to the extent Aloisi might have hoped.However, Aloisi said DeVere was not contemplating an early retirement, as some recent repoorts have claimed.ddddddddddddLuke DeVeres never mentioned to me he wants to retire, Aloisi said.If everything goes well, he should be ready for round one, but with injuries you just dont know.We want to do our utmost to get him to a level we know he can get to.Hes played for the Socceroos once before, against Germany, only a year ago.Hopefully we can get him back to that level, because it will only be good for us.DeVere is in his second stint with the Roar, having left the club in 2011 for South Korean side Gyeongnam FC, where he spent four seasons.Once considered a likely long-term Socceroos defender, DeVere has only ever earned one cap for the national team, completing 90 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Germany in March last year. 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