Younis began his career amid the dying embers of the #Mighty90sSide, which was fighting its demons and court cases as much as it was its opponents. He came of age in the Bob Woolmer era, where with Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq he formed the mighty triumvirate that was Pakistan's middle order. Even there, his feats were often overshadowed, largely because the other two had been archetypal in a way he never had been - Inzamam was the unknown youngster who had arrived from nowhere to grab the world by surprise, a typical Pakistani cricket myth. Yousuf had his moments in his golden run in 2006, where he played into the English myth about the classy subcontinental batsman who was an aesthetically pleasing run glut.

Younis' story was always more bizarre. Around about the time of his golden run as a Test batsman, Pakistan did not play Tests for a year, and he was then kicked out of the side months after leading the country to a world title, in 2009. The annus horribilis that was 2010 laid waste to many careers in Pakistan's batting stocks, and an entire generation of players that were meant to finally come of age were instead out of the team. The fixing scandal meant that an old-timer was brought back to lead a team of fresh-faced youngsters. The only other old face was that of Younis, whose spat with the board meant that he had been absent from the horror tours of Australia and England that had caused all these changes.

For most of his career, Younis has been sidelined because there haven't been any clichés or narratives that fit him. But whenever he leaves, he will do so as an example, an ideal that others will aspire to. It's a legacy that few others can manage.