Jos Buttler sat at a round table on the first floor of the Gujarat Cricket Association clubhouse, holding court with the travelling English press pack on the eve of the World Cup. He had just spent 40 minutes on stage at a captain’s event and was midway through a long afternoon of media duties before an evening training session.

It was there, in Ahmedabad, that Buttler explained in some detail the thought behind a phrase that has come to haunt England’s World Cup campaign: “We’re not defending anything,” Buttler said. “It’s probably the word I don’t like: I want us to attack, so I don’t like the word ‘defending’.” It has aged like milk.

Even with eight survivors from the squad that won the 2019 title, he was wary of describing the team as defending champions. “You’re can’t recreate something, or hold onto it forever,” Buttler said. “You’ve given that trophy back now. It’s done. It’s about trying to create something new.”

Three weeks and a day later, it was a very different Buttler sitting in the press conference room at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He looked almost hollow, trying to process how a team with so much ability and experience finds itself on the brink of elimination after a fourth heavy defeat in five group games.

“To be sat here now with the three weeks that have been is a shock,” he said. “I’ll walk back into the dressing room after this and look at the players sat there, and think: ‘How have we found ourselves in this position with the talent and the skill that’s in the room?’ But it’s the position we’re in.”

Buttler was insistent that complacency had not been a problem, referring back to Ahmedabad: “Something we spoke about a lot as a team [was that] you have to go and create it again… that’s why, at the very beginning of the tournament, I said we weren’t here to try and defend our title; [that] we’re here to start something new and try and win something.”

They have fallen a long way short. Buttler’s captaincy has already come in for criticism, some of it fair. Selection has been muddled in their last two games and his decisions at the toss have aged poorly: to bowl first against Afghanistan in Delhi was a miscalculation; to do the same against South Africa in the Mumbai heat was a serious error.

He has looked powerless to change the course of an innings in the field. New Zealand and Sri Lanka cruised to victory with unbroken partnerships of 273 and 137, while constant bowling changes during South Africa’s sixth-wicket stand of 151 in 77 balls felt like trying to stop a burst dam with a bucket. Even when they dragged things back against Afghanistan, they had raced to 79 for 0 after 10 overs before Buttler finally introduced his spinners on a slow pitch.

Moeen Ali, his vice-captain, was left out against Bangladesh and remained on the bench for the next two games, leaving Buttler isolated in the field. He found little support from his senior players: against South Africa, he found himself racing to the top of his bowlers’ run-ups and back again, with no calming voice to help out at mid-on or mid-off.

But Buttler has not become a poor leader overnight. Even the best captains would have struggled to get a tune out of England’s bowling attack in this World Cup: their seamers have leaked a tournament-high 6.86 runs per over and, Reece Topley apart, have lacked any consistency, rendering setting a field or sticking to a plan almost impossible.

Only a year ago, he got a response from a similar group of players after defeat to Ireland left them on the brink of elimination at the T20 World Cup. Then, his message to his squad was simple: “Put your chests out and enjoy your talent. You’re all here playing for England in a World Cup. Showcase how good you are.”

The main difference? In Australia, he led from the front with the bat. In the first of four must-wins, he made 73 off 47 against New Zealand, setting the game up from the top of the order; in the semi-final against India, he put on an unbroken 170 with Alex Hales, sealing a 10-wicket win with a mighty straight six.

In India, by his own admission. Buttler has been “a long way short” of his best. He made 43 off 42 against New Zealand, with a brace of sixes, but has been a shadow of himself since. He has managed scores of 20, 9, 15 and 8 and a trend has emerged in his dismissals: three times out of five, he has been caught behind flashing at length balls on a sixth-stump line.

All too often, he has walked in with England already in trouble: at 68 for 3 against both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and at 38 for 4 against South Africa. He has attempted to launch counterattacks, but has not lasted long enough to change the tide. That Buttler has only batted at No. 4 three times since the 2019 final – a role which would enable him to set games up – is a damning reflection on England’s long-term planning.

England flew to Lucknow on Friday lunchtime and will train on Saturday afternoon before playing India on Sunday. The next two weeks will be a gauge of England’s pride and their professionalism: in theory, things can only get better; in practice, they could get seriously ugly.

These four games will be a test of Buttler’s leadership, and whether he can get a tune out of players who are yet to hit a single note. Whatever happens, Buttler will be the favourite to lead them into next year’s T20 World Cup – but what comes after that is anyone’s guess.