Yuvraj Singh (top), Yuvraj Mahajan

Gurgaon, Dec. 13: When the country would have wanted him to flay the Pollocks and Ntinis, Yuvraj Singh today made headlines by allegedly beating up a namesake and fellow cricketer in a drunken brawl at his birthday party.

The widely telecast controversy, which sucked in the Team India star’s actress friend Kim Sharma and featured a mystery foreign woman, was later settled amicably in the office of the Gurgaon deputy police chief.

Yuvraj, out of the South Africa tour thanks to a knee injury, was accused of attacking 21-year-old Yuvraj Siddharth Mahajan, who plays Ranji Trophy for Haryana and had turned up at last night’s party invited by a common friend.

Siddharth’s mother Neelam said she received an SOS from her son over the mobile in the small hours today and drove from Delhi to the Gurgaon house, belonging to Yuvraj’s mother Shabnam Singh.

She told the police and media that Yuvraj grabbed her hand, and Shabnam and Kim abused her in “filthy language”, while all three beat up Siddharth with another three or four persons.

Versions of the fight differ but all mention Siddharth’s lady companion, believed to be a foreigner, as the trigger.

Siddharth told officers the girl had complained of sexual harassment by another guest, whom he identified only as “Sodhi”.

“My car wouldn’t start, so I asked Sodhi to take her home. But she refused to accompany him. Sodhi became enraged when I told him she wouldn’t go with him,” he said.

As they quarrelled, Yuvraj allegedly butted in and attacked Siddharth.

But sources close to Yuvraj’s family said Siddharth — brought along by Sukhvinder Singh, an Indian Airlines cricketer — had got drunk in no time. His lady companion got irritated and asked Yuvraj’s friends if they could help her get home. They called a taxi for her.

“When Siddharth learnt his ‘girl’ had been sent home, he flew into a rage, abusing people and throwing punches,” a source said.

Part of the fracas was recorded in a cellphone that Shabnam was able to produce. A voice, purportedly Neelam’s, can be heard yelling and threatening people. Other voices, apparently of Yuvraj’s friends and family, appear placatory.

Shabnam told reporters the matter had been settled but Neelam said she might yet complain against Yuvraj to the Indian cricket board.

Three months before the World Cup, where Yuvraj is expected to be a key player, the board mightn’t be too interested. It would be happy to learn that both players, taken to hospital by the police for a check-up, have suffered only minor bruises.