Manchester brings up old ghosts as India battle to stay alive

There is likely a lot of confirmation bias involved in the following statements. Cricket fans tend to not forget dates and places. Among cricket fans, Indian cricket fans particularly tend to cling on much more. You can't bring up November 19 without sending them spiralling into darkness. A drizzly Old Trafford can trigger - not to make light of real world mental health issues - PTSD in many India fans.

A drizzly Old Trafford is, after all, the birthplace of the phrase "45 minutes of bad cricket". To be clear it was not bad cricket in those 45 minutes in the ODI World Cup semi-final in 2019. India were caught in the perfect storm of seam-friendly conditions and some awesome bowling from New Zealand.

The larger sentiment - be it the image of Richard Kettleborough's look of astonishment at Martin Guptill's direct hit from deep square leg in Manchester or the stunning catch from Travis Head in Ahmedabad - is that India dominated those tournaments, which is why those losses hurt more.

A day before India's second Test at Old Trafford in 35 years, a venue where they have never won, it drizzled the same way it did on the second half of day one of their 2019 World Cup semi-final. Not hard enough to take players off but just enough to prevent resumption of an already stopped contest.

It is hard not to see some similarities between those "45 minutes of bad cricket" ruining the memories of entire tournaments and this ongoing Test series. India are averaging 42.96 with the bat as against England's 38.09, but they find themselves trailing in the series 2-1. India have batted at 85% control as against England's 78%. India have got a wicket every 12 false shots when England have needed to induce fewer than ten, and this is with India batting more carefully than England.

These are not dominating numbers, although at one point at Lord's they were. But in most series of decent lengths that can even out extreme results, they should ensure you are not in deficit. India's batters have made fewer mistakes, their bowlers have held lengths for longer, and if they can keep on doing it, they should still back themselves to come out ahead by the end of five Tests.

What about the frequent "45 minutes of bad cricket", though? India have frequently made errors - either unforced or through lack of experience - that have cost them dearly to put them in this place: be it the collapses through casual shots at Headingley, the nightmare mix of milestone anxiety and quick single resulting in a run out just before lunch at Lord's, or a ball-change request that could perhaps have been avoided.

It is these teams' privilege that they get a five-Test series to correct those errors. Other teams often get just two-Test series, and have no room for these errors: you do that in one Test, and boom, it is an unassailable deficit. With the privilege, however, also comes scrutiny and schadenfreude. People can see the mention of lack of experience or luck as an excuse.

It is to India's credit that they were able to repeat their skills at both Edgbaston and Lord's after they lost the unloseable Test at Headingley. That is the difficult bit. That is what you train for. In Tests, more than other formats, that is actually enough to win matches: you bowl more good balls, you keep out more good balls, and you win Tests. Sometimes, as at Headingley, you have catastrophic half hours, you tell yourself you won't repeat casual shots, and then find a new way of letting the opposition back in, like at Lord's.

In an ideal world, the ideal response is to not think about these moments and focus more on training yourself on your basic skills and fitness. A human mind, though, doesn't work in a vacuum. There is now a series on the line, and now it is the same scenario as it is for other teams who don't have the privilege of playing long series.

In 2018, when the general sentiment was that India didn't deserve to lose 4-1 - some actually thought they could have won with a toss or two going their way - India averaged 25.23 and England 30.74. This series is actually closer to that sentiment. India are yet to win a toss, they have created more chances and pressure with the ball, and yet they are down 2-1.

Of course, there is still time for India to be able to go ahead and put on numbers that actually deserve a deficit. There is also time to come back and repeat what has gone right with them. About now will be a good time to win a toss and/or be more ruthless and avoid actually living up to the 2018 assessments.