England’s defeat by Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday will go down as one of the great World Cup shocks.

For Afghanistan, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament, to beat the defending champions is unprecedented.

I have to start by giving them huge credit.

With bat, ball and in the field they looked the superior team.

Afghanistan are always very competitive.

They are fiery and sometimes that can spill over into being uncontrolled or a lack of discipline.

Their tempers can fray and that makes them capable of crazy cricket, like we saw with Rahmanullah Gurbaz being run out by his captain Hashmatullah Shahidi in Delhi.

But that is only ever because they care.

Hashmatullah captained very well, keeping the field back for the spinners against England’s lower order. I was very impressed.

In contrast, England just look off the pace. You can say the same about Australia at this World Cup too.

We thought Buttler’s side had turned a corner with victory over Bangladesh in Dharamsala on Tuesday but they are just not clicking as a unit.

Eight of the England wickets may have fallen to spin but, make no mistake, this was not a poor pitch.

It was a bit sluggish, kept a little low, but that is what happens in India.

By no means did England get done batting second on a turner.

Instead, their innings was simply littered with soft dismissals.

Dawid Malan pushed the ball to extra cover and Jos Buttler wafted lazily to be bowled through the gate. Only Jonny Bairstow was unlucky with his lbw decision that was only just clipping leg. That was a rough call.

But more worrying is England’s bowling.

I have watched South Africa twice in this tournament already and if England continue to bowl as they have things could get ugly when the teams meet in Mumbai on Saturday.

It pains me to say it but Chris Woakes has to take some of the blame for his opening spells in all three games.

He has bowled 11 overs in the powerplay so far and has taken one wicket for 95 runs.

It has allowed the opposition to get off to flying starts in each match, giving the initiative away from the start.

Woakes just hasn’t got any rhythm. The ball isn’t coming out right at all, so much so it is hard to tell if he is bowling slower balls or effort balls.

That can happen.

When I went through spells where it happened to me I would just go and bowl 20 minutes of bouncers in the nets.

That helped me get through my action, get my wrist going and some energy into the delivery stride.

My fear is it will be too late for Woakes because I can’t see how England can play him again in this tournament bowling as he is.

That is shame because he has been a very valuable member of England’s team but he is completely off the pace.

England have got to find the reason for this sluggish start very quickly because their hopes are now hanging by a thread.

At least Australia can say their two defeats have come against India and South Africa, the two strongest teams on the evidence so far.

Bangladesh and Afghanistan were supposed to be England’s bankers and they have only got one win from those games.

Apart from the meeting with the Netherlands in Pune, which England really should win, the rest of their remaining games are all tough.

One more loss and it will be curtains.

The thing for me is there has not been any sort of attitude that you expect from the defending champions like England are.

The Australia teams of old used to stick their chest out and say ‘We’re here to win again. You’re going to have to beat us’.

I think back to when I spoke to Buttler before the defeat by New Zealand by the boundary edge and he set out his hopes for the tournament.

He spoke about not wanting the team to think of themselves as defending champions but I wonder whether right now that is exactly what England need.

Their crown in slipping slowly from their head. Digging deep and finding that fight inside might be what is best.

How much do they really want to keep hold of that title of 50-over world champions? That might be the motivation I would be looking for.

It looks like Ben Stokes will probably be available for next week, which will obviously be a massive help.

I think England have been saving him for this next game. It’s just a shame their tournament could be all over just as Stokes gets started.

It is a lot for one man to turn it around, even Ben Stokes, and ironically the player who has come into the team for him, Harry Brook, was the one to bat well today with his 66 in an increasingly difficult situation.

That only complicates matters further.

As for the rest, I expect David Willey will replace Woakes.

It needs to be someone who can take the new ball. Mark Wood does not like doing that in one-day cricket and that is not Gus Atkinson’s forte.

Whoever plays will have to step up. England’s World Cup hopes depend on it.

Jonathan Agnew was talking to BBC Sport’s Matt Henry.