The fallacy of Five Pillars and their fractured legacy

September 9, 2007 is not a red-letter day in Bangladesh cricket, but it ought to be.

On that day, as Bangladesh took on Sri Lanka in a group-stage match of the inaugural ICC World T20 in Johannesburg, which they lost by 64 runs, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal appeared together for the Tigers for the very first time, marking the beginning of the era of the Five Pillars.

THE GENESIS OF FIVE PILLARS

At that time, Mashrafe was the only settled member of the Bangladesh team, with the other four still young upstarts, trying to make a name for themselves in the game. But in the following few years, Mashrafe's injury troubles made him almost a sporadic figure in the national team, while the other four gradually rose in prominence in the side, especially Shakib.

Till 2014, the term Five Pillars did not really exist in Bangladesh cricket's zeitgeist, but its prominence really came to the fore in the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia. Mashrafe and his men surpassed everyone's expectations in that tournament, knocking out England from the group stage and reaching the quarter-finals for the very first time, thus kickstarting the legend of the Five Pillars.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

And this legend kept growing in the next few years, thanks to the consecutive series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa in 2015, playing the final of the 2016 and 2018 Asia Cup, reaching the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time, and winning maiden Tests against England and Australia.

HONEYMOON LASTS FOR FIVE YEARS

The fascination over the quintet started to wane in 2019. Mashrafe, who was lauded for his inspirational leadership just four years ago, was now seen more as a burden for the team. While Shakib pulled off what could be termed as the greatest all-round performance in an ODI World Cup, with 606 runs and 11 wickets in eight outings, Bangladesh finished eighth out of the 10 teams. The brunt of the blame went to Mashrafe, who claimed just one wicket in the entire tournament, and the fact he had joined politics before the World Cup and became a parliament member from Awami League hampered his image, drawing questions over his cricketing commitment.

After Mashrafe left the picture quite unceremoniously, quitting the ODI captaincy early next year following a home series against Zimbabwe -- having retired from T20Is in 2017 and not being fit enough to play Tests since 2009 -- the Tigers were down to four pillars.

By that time, the foundation had been rocked. Shakib left his legions of fans shocked and heartbroken when he got banned by the ICC in 2020 for not disclosing contacts with bookmakers. Three years later, he followed the footsteps of Mashrafe and joined the Awami League, a decision that further damaged his image. Now, the all-rounder, much like Mashrafe, is trying to appease the enraged fans for his silence during the July Uprising that led to the ouster of the Awami League government.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Meanwhile, Tamim's actions gradually started getting more erratic. He did not play T20Is for almost two years before finally quitting the format in 2022 and started missing more and more matches due to injuries. His retirement and prompt un-retirement just months before last year's ODI World Cup -- where he was supposed to lead the team -- and then the public mud-slinging with Shakib after getting left out of the World Cup squad left a bad taste in everyone's mouths.

Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur remained more of silent figures during this period but have hinted that they harbour grudges about how they were treated. Mahmudullah, who retired from Tests in 2021 after hitting a century on his comeback and returned to the ODI World Cup squad last year after getting dropped from the squad months prior, quit T20Is after the recent India tour. Mushfiqur also retired from T20Is right before the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Now, the remaining four stalwarts are only active in ODIs. Shakib has already announced his intention to retire from international cricket from the tournament, and the other three also have a chance to join him and move on from the game hand in hand. But the grand adulation for the Five Pillars has been damaged beyond repair at this point, and a collective send-off might make fans nostalgic, but it is unlikely to evoke the same emotion.

REALITY OF THEIR LEGACY

The masses had turned these five cricketers into icons, placed them above every other Bangladesh cricketer and showered them with all the love they could muster. But why? The Five Pillars were definitely a cut above the rest from the contemporary in Bangladesh, but other than Shakib, none of them were truly world-class players for a sustained period. The other four had their moments, sure, but Shakib was the only one who could be considered among the best in the business.

Mashrafe was a shadow of his old self after the injuries, Tamim was never consistent for a great length of time, and Mahmudullah has a knack for turning up on the big stage, with three centuries in ODI World Cups and one in the Champions Trophy, but consistency was never his forte. Mushfiqur, even though the most consistent of the lot, would often be playing second fiddle to whoever was the star player of the day. And for all that these five have achieved as individuals, they never won a trophy for Bangladesh in an ICC or ACC event.

"Definitely we didn't win a major trophy, but I don't agree that we don't have any achievements," Mahmudullah said in a recent press conference in India in a staunch defence of the legend of the Five Pillars. "I think if a trophy is the only benchmark, then many legends wouldn't be called legends. The situation is very different from the time I made my debut in 2007 to now. It is not just due to the Poncho Pandob [Five Pillars]. Every player, coach and team management involved have all contributed to this change in Bangladesh cricket," he added.

Granted, winning a trophy is not everything, but having one certainly helps cement the legacy of a generation. By winning the ICC Trophy in 1997, Akram Khan and Co ushered in a new age in Bangladesh cricket. For all they have done, Mashrafe and Co don't have any silverware to show for it. In this same period, the men's Under-19 team won the World Cup in 2020 and the women's national team won the Asia Cup in 2018, while the men's senior team always came up short in the final hurdle.

This quintet have played 111 matches across formats for Bangladesh, emerging victorious on 54 occasions while losing 53. The win-loss ratio may not seem that impressive, but it is four-and-a-half times better than the pre-Five Pillars era.

Mashrafe and Co thus deserve credit for taking Bangladesh cricket a step above and leaving it in a better state than they had found it in. However, by the same logic, the 90s generation of Bangladesh cricketers had done the same thing by helping Bangladesh attain the coveted Test status, but they don't receive a sliver of the appreciation that the Five Pillars get.

BREAKING DOWN IDOL-CREATION PROCESS

To better understand the process of idol creation, let's take a look at India, a country unmatched when it comes to deifying cricketers.

Those who grew up watching cricket in the early 2000s must remember how India revered its famed batting quintet of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman. One by one, all of them moved on from the game, but the culture of hero-worshipping remained the same, and new names took their place.

One of the biggest heroes of the following generation was MS Dhoni, who led India to a T20 World Cup, an ODI World Cup and a Champions Trophy. Considering Dhoni's status in Indian cricket and in the hearts of Indian fans, it was a bit odd to see former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir retort so severely to a social media post from Cricinfo, a leading cricket website, in 2020 in which they marked the ninth anniversary of India's ODI World Cup win with a picture of Dhoni's famous six that sealed the victory in the final.

"Just a reminder @ESPNcricinfo: #worldcup2011 was won by entire India, entire Indian team & all support staff. High time you hit your obsession for a SIX," Gambhir posted on X. At face value, this criticism seemed to have come out of petty jealousy. In the same match, Gambhir made 97, which was as important as Dhoni's 91 in the final against Sri Lanka. But over time, the cult of Dhoni has overshadowed the contributions of Gambhir and others.

Photo: AFP

Gambhir, who is currently India's head coach in all formats, later clarified multiple times that his frustration was never directed at Dhoni, but at the narrative set by the media. In a cricketing culture where hero-worshipping is the norm, Gambhir's take may have seemed out of place, but it was relevant nonetheless. So, the question that should be asked next is why does the media create this narrative, and what do they get out of it?

Well, this is where things get a bit murky. For a media outlet to be successful, it needs to attract eyeballs, and a tried and tested method of ensuring that is to make people emotionally invested in the team. Using patriotism, national pride and, in some cases, geopolitical tensions between countries as fuel to attract viewers is an effective method, no doubt, but an even better ploy would be to get people emotionally attached to certain individuals.

Media can help create a cult surrounding a cricketer and then use it to attract viewership. Actually, this does not just apply to fans; even if a player has a lot of haters, the media can just as well exploit that hatred to attract viewership. But then again, there is another side to it. No matter how hard the media or a player's personal PR agency tries, at the end of the day, it's the fans who decide who they want to follow. And for the media, it just makes business sense to give the fans what they want.

So, the hero-worshipping of cricketers is a two-way process, done hand in hand by the media and the fans. Ironically, the cricketers themselves can do very little to dictate how they will be treated. Their PR agencies can try, but the media and fans, especially in the age of social media, decide who will be the cricketing icons among the rest.

THE PRICE OF UNCHECKED POPULARITY

Coming back to Bangladesh, the moment that really started the Five Pillars legend in Bangladesh was when they beat England and qualified for the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup.

The thing is, two of the pillars, Shakib and Tamim, had a pretty lean tournament. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur scored runs and Mashrafe inspired with his leadership, but Shakib and especially Tamim did not do justice to their names.

In fact, pacer Rubel Hossain made a much more profound impact in that tournament than Shakib and Tamim. Against England, the pacer struck timber twice in three balls in his last over to complete the historic victory, finishing with figures of 4-53.

Rubel remained a prominent figure in the series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa and enjoyed a surge in popularity, but was never thought of in the same bracket as the Five Pillars.

One might argue that Rubel was not active in all three formats to warrant a place among the pillars, but so wasn't Mashrafe. Rubel's image had taken a hit after some controversies, but Shakib's image was not squeaky clean either. One could even say that Rubel's career stats weren't that impressive, well, the stats of all of the 'Five Pillars' weren't exactly world-class.

The fact is, no one, not the media nor the fans, really viewed Rubel in the same light as those five. And the same goes for many of the other players who made great contributions in this period but did not receive the same credit.

Again, one might think that other than the individuals feeling slighted, no real harm was caused by this tendency.

One could even argue that even if the fans and the media went overboard in their adulation of the Five Pillars, it did not harm the team, as these five were the best players Bangladesh possessed throughout this period.

But looking at the entire era of the Five Pillars and the years they were down to four, it becomes evident that other than a few exceptions, almost every other player was viewed as expendable.

This tendency did not harm the team when the five stalwarts were at the height of their powers, but even when they were in the midst of an elongated slump or when age was catching up to them, their status earned them a longer leash than others.

Moreover, the younger four of the veterans -- Shakib, Tamim, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur -- have enjoyed this special treatment almost from the start of their careers. At a very young age, they were all elevated to the national team and accorded a long learning period, which came at the expense of many others not getting a proper go at the highest level.

And on the rare occasions when any of them were dropped, it became breaking news. The resulting pressure on their replacements was immense, as they knew that a few bad outings would lead to them being axed from the side, making way for the stalwart's triumphant return.

WHOSE FAULT IS IT ANYWAY

Over 17 years have passed since that day in Johannesburg. With the end drawing near, the question that naturally comes up is what would be their legacy as a group.

Will they be remembered for the many historic wins they achieved for Bangladesh, for making the countrymen believe they can not only compete but even win against top sides in cricket? Or will they be remembered as a group of cricketers who were more hype than substance, who delved into petty ego fights rather than joining hands for the greater good?

But before passing judgement on their legacy, it is important to acknowledge one thing. These players never asked to be called the Five Pillars, they didn't demand special treatment nor did they force anyone to worship them as heroes.

The legend of Five Pillars was created by the media and wholeheartedly supported by fans. Just because the five in question failed to live up to the expectations imposed on them, do they really deserve to be ostracised?