Ashley Nurse's Indian friend inspired the 'Babaji ka thullu' celebration

Windies off-spinner Ashley Nurse put in a fabulous all-round performance on Saturday in Pune to help his team level the 5-match ODI series against India. He smashed a quickfire 40 off just 22 balls to propel the visitors’ total to 283 in the first innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar returning to the team with this game faced the brunt of his powerful hitting, as Nurse scored 21 off the penultimate over of the Windies innings.

However, it’s when he’s bowling that Nurse caught the attention of fans from both India as well as the Caribbean. He has come up with a celebration which Indians have termed ‘Babaji ka thullu’, a gesture made famous by Indian comedian Kapil Sharma. He unleashed the hilarious celebration in the Visakhapatnam ODI after dismissing Ambati Rayudu for a well-made 73, which instantly began doing the rounds on social media.

In Pune, as India and the Windies took each other on in the 3rd ODI of the series, he was back at it after dismissing Shikhar Dhawan for 35 in the 18th over. Nurse also removed the dangerous Rishabh Pant after ultra-edge detected a feather as the ball went past his gloves down the leg side. As soon as the big screen declared that Pant had to make the long walk back, the offie celebrated with the funny hand gesture.

Nurse dedicate the celebration to an Indian friend

When asked about his unique celebration after the match, Nurse revealed that it was dedicated to an Indian friend he met during the Caribbean Premier League earlier this year.

“Just dedicating the celebration to my Indian friend – Sunny Sohal, whom I met at the CPL. He told me when you get a wicket to do a ‘babaji ka thullu’ or something. It’s supposed to be very famous here,” Nurse said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

The Windies eventually won the third ODI in Pune by a comfortable 43 run margin to level the five-match series 1-1. Nurse was the hero for the visitors. He smashed the Indian bowlers at the death and also and picked up two crucial wickets, which earned him a Man of the Match award.

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