Sania Mirza responds to 'settling down' comment after pregnancy announcement

The recent announcement by Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has got people on both sides of the border excited.

The couple had posted a picture on Twitter of a family wardrobe design with three sections — one with a shirt which read Mirza, the second had a children’s romper hanging which read Mirza-Malik, and the third with a shirt reading Malik.

Congratulations poured in for the couple with Indian anchor Rajdeep Sardesai also taking the moment to tweet ‘congrtaulations for settling down' to the tennis player.

Mirza, who is one to never back down, replied “Well thank you Rajdeep ... still not ‘settling’ now though ... have been settled for a while." The message ended with emojis of a laugh and a wink.

This was not the first time Mirza and Sardesai had an exchange. Two years ago, Sardesai had questioned Mirza on air about motherhood and settling down, a question she didn’t take too lightly.

"That’s the question I face all the time as a woman, that all women have to face — the first is marriage and then it’s motherhood. Unfortunately, that’s when we’re settled, and no matter how many Wimbledons we win or number ones in the world we become, we don’t become settled. But eventually it will happen, not right now. And when it does happen I’ll be the first one to tell everybody when I plan to do that," Mirza had said.

The three-time Grand Slam doubles winner had announced earlier this month that any child she had would bear the Mirza-Malik surname and that Shoaib wanted a daughter.

Sania, 31, has been sidelined since October with a knee injury. She has slipped from number one in the world doubles ranking — the first for an Indian woman — to 24.