The building blocks of the five pillars

Since being elevated to Test level in 2000, Bangladesh cricket has gone through many ups and downs. There were a few players who shone brightly yet briefly. There were players along the way who donned the red and green cap for quite some time. But the formation of a core group was a far cry, which of course should have come with the experience of playing together for a long time.

However, along the way of so many defeats and disappointments the core group slowly but surely formed and the impact of that wealth of collective experience started to reap results, particularly over the last three years or so when Bangladesh cricket has undergone a significant facelift. And the Tigers' recent success is neither magical nor miraculous, but the result of hard work and sacrifice from coaches, management and of course from the players who wanted to shift gears to the next level.

But more importantly it's the core group of five -- Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad -- that have been defined as the pillars of Bangladesh cricket and architects of the new Bangladesh on the world stage.

Each of these five cricketers have been playing international cricket for over 10 years now and at one point or another, have gone through a roller coaster ride both individually as well as part of the team. Consequently, their confidence has grown immensely over the years but despite that, these five cricketers, who have played a combined 850 ODIs and 221 Tests for Bangladesh, had to go through those tests of trials. They had to overcome the obstacles, had to live up to expectations day in day out, assume the role of responsibility and face the adversity that defined experience in true sense.

From the cumulative effect of seven surgeries on Mashrafe's legs, that at one point threatened his cricket career, Tamim being left out of the Asia Cup squad in 2012, Mushfiqur's dipping performance behind the wickets, Shakib's six-month ban from all forms of cricket due to off-field disciplinary breaches to, last but not least, Mahmudullah being dropped from Bangladesh's historic 100th Test in Colombo recently, these five pillars have endured their fair share of troubles. Most importantly, each of them have shown the gumption, grit and technical skill to correct their mistakes and emerge from those trials stronger than they were before.

The fight and quest to think about their games and to constantly keep improving have not only taken Bangladesh to new heights, but set world-class examples which youngsters can look up to and learn from.

When it comes to passion and expectations, cricket is not that far short of a religion in Bangladesh. Cricket lovers expect Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah and ODI skipper Mashrafe to perform in every game and win matches no matter what the situation. Of course, the players themselves realise the level of expectations whenever they meet their close friends or when they cast their eyes upon news media and across social network websites. It can put extra pressure on players, but these cricketers have been there for nearly a decade and know how to handle the situation and perform as professionals.

Perhaps the biggest lesson experience teaches is to remain responsible and there is no shortage of responsibilities for each of these five senior players. According to the situation each senior player contributes their valuable input during the game alongside playing their individual roles. The seniors also guide the youngsters in the team in pressure situations, help them remain calm and inspire courage, which helps the team win matches. This role extends off the field -- there have been a few instances in the past where senior members came forward to help when their younger teammates had personal issues. At the same time, being superstars and idols for the youth, these senior members also have to maintain a responsible social life with fans and the media.

Another very important aspect of being a senior member is to face critics whenever they fail to fulfil their responsibilities. At times the fans will go hard at them if Bangladesh lose or if they fail to perform; even board members lash out at the cricketers. At times there have been incidents when cricketers lose their cool with the fans and even with the media, creating headlines worldwide. There was a time when criticism had an adverse effect on Tamim's performance, but now he has learnt how to cope with criticism.

At the end of the day, as the late Randy Pausch said: “Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”