Younis Khan made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Karachi in February 2000, and has since played over 250 ODIs for Pakistan. His Test debut came during the same tour in 2000 against Sri Lanka on 26 February 2000 and played in over 110 Test matches until retirement. Younis was one of the few batsmen who retained his place in the team after Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign in 2003, but lost it soon after due to a string of poor scores in the home series against Bangladesh and South Africa. He came back for the one-day series against India, but failed to cement a place in the Test side.