Yuvraj Singh's new look sees Sania Mirza pull his leg

Mumbai, Sep 29. Yuvraj Singh has been in the news recently for his strong words about being dropped unceremoniously, but his clean shaven look got tennis star Sania Mirza to bring in the humour as she urged the 2011 World Cup hero to bring his beard back.

Yuvraj posted a photo on Instagram with a clean shaven look, getting rid of his beard which he has been sporting for quite some time now. While his fans were abuzz on social media, urging him to grow the beard back, Sania also joined the chorus, her tongue firmly in cheek.

"New look chikna chamela!! or should I bring back the beard?" Yuvraj had posted.

"Are you pouting to hide the chin under the chin we spoke bout ???? Bring the beard back," replied Sania.

Yuvraj recently ruffled a few feathers by saying in an interview to Aaj Tak that he was not picked for the Indian team in 2017 despite passing the mandatory yo-yo test.

The Player of the Tournament in India's triumphant World Cup campaign in 2011, Yuvraj was dropped after the 2017 tour of the West Indies after enduring a lean patch.

Earlier this year, the celebrated southpaw, who also played a crucial role in India winning the inaugural World T20 in 2007, called time on his career.

"Never thought that I would be dropped after being named the Man of the Match in two games out of the 8-9 I played after the Champions Trophy in 2017.

"I got injured and I was told to prepare for the Sri Lanka series. Then suddenly, the yo-yo test came into the picture. It was a u-turn in my selection. Suddenly I had to go back and prepare for the yo-yo test at the age of 36.

"Even after I cleared the yo-yo test, I was told to play domestic cricket. They actually thought that I wouldn't be able to clear the test due to my age. And that it would be easy to decline me afterward... yeah you can say it was an exercise in making excuses," Yuvraj was quoted as saying by Aaj Tak.

Yuvraj, who has played 304 ODIs and 58 T20s for India, scoring 8,701 and 1,177 runs, respectively, smashed a 127-ball 150 in a home ODI against England in Cuttack in January 2017 to then play the Champions Trophy after being in and out of the side.

In the Champions Trophy, Yuvraj managed 105 runs in four innings at an average of 35.00. He was included in the squad for the West Indies tour after the Champions Trophy, but his poor showing there forced the selectors to drop him.