Some called him the 'King of Reverse Swing' and some the 'Duke of Yorker', but former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis would like to be remembered simply as an honest trier.
Waqar retired from all cricket on Tuesday, almost a year after Wasim Akram.
Following in the tradition of Larwood and Voce, Tyson and Trueman, Lillee and Thomson and Holding and Roberts, the pair came to symbolise their side through the 1990s, always troubling and sometimes terrorising the best of batsmen.
Akram was an orthodox left-arm swing bowler with a fast arm and a touch of genius, while Younis transformed the inswinging yorker into a vicious, toe-crushing weapon.
It was with his prodigious reverse swing with the old ball, however, that Younis really made his mark.
"A role model for bowlers, he had pace, aggression, control and reverse swing," India batsman Sachin Tendulkar said in a statement. "His outstanding record speaks for itself."
Younis finished his career with 373 wickets in 87 tests and 416 one-day wickets in 262 matches. His combined tally of 787 test and 918 one-day scalps with Akram reflected the impact of their partnership, which was often referred to as the "Two Ws".
But off the field there was no love lost between them.
Their well-documented clashes were highlighted after a tour of Australia in 1999 when Waqar held a press conference in which he lashed out at skipper Akram for not giving him enough opportunities.
When Waqar became captain two years later, Akram had to take a back seat.
"We were two bowlers of the same level at the same time," Waqar said on Tuesday. "Sometimes we were naive. But I always had great respect for Wasim and I'm honoured to be part of the 'Two Ws' with him."
The biggest impact on Waqar's career, though, was arguably that of former skipper Imran Khan.
Imran watched him on television in a domestic match and brought him into the Pakistan team much in the same way that Javed Miandad had spotted Akram in 1983 and pushed him straight into the test arena.
Waqar showed in his first test against India in 1989 at Karachi, a match in which Tendulkar also made his debut, that Imran's faith was justified.
He took four for 80 on a flat batting track, his victims Sanjay Manjrekar, Tendulkar, Manoj Prabhakar and Kapil Dev. Waqar had arrived.
His fame grew on the 1992 tour of England when he led Pakistan to a thrilling 2-1 series win with five for 52 in perfect batting conditions in the final test at the Oval.
Waqar and Wasim, however, were accused of ball tampering during the tour and later of involvement in a match-fixing scandal that rocked cricket four years ago.
The players denied any wrongdoing but the controversy sullied their image.
Waqar got a fresh lease of life as captain in 2001, grabbing key wickets and leading by example until Pakistan were eliminated in the first round of the 2003 World Cup, his last tournament.
"I could've played for another year," Waqar said on Tuesday. "But I've lost the hunger."
"It is a sad day for me, but the right time to go," the 32-year-old told a media conference organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) here.
"I thought I could have played for a year or so, but I lost the hunger because the selectors did not consider me good enough to represent the country any more.
"I have not decided on my future. It could be media work or coaching, but something definitely related to cricket."
Waqar was not picked for international cricket after being stripped of the captaincy following Pakistan's embarrassing first round exit at the World Cup in southern Africa in March last year.
Waqar, whose family was present at the media conference, termed former Pakistan captain Imran Khan as his "godfather and mentor."
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