Jaipur: Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Jos Buttler on Monday became the first victim of 'Mankading' in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when a desperate Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) skipper Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed the batsman in the controversial manner during their match in Jaipur.

With Buttler going strong at 69 off 43 balls while chasing 185 runs, Ashwin mankaded the RR opener without giving him any warning.

Also read: Full list of batsmen 'mankaded' since 1947

As per the laws of the game, the third umpire declared Buttler out but such a dismissal had always raised eyebrows as it is considered against the spirit of the game.

As expected Buttler seemed furious and had a heated exchange with Ashwin before leaving the field.

The dismissal created a big controversy going into the 12th edition of the IPL.

Rajasthan were 108/1 in 12.4 overs at that stage. The home team eventually lost the match by 14 runs as they were restricted to 170/9 in 20 overs.

Among Indians, it was Kapil Dev who had mankaded Peter Kirsten of South Africa during the 1992-93 series and in Indian domestic cricket Railways' spinner Murali Karthik had mankaded Sandipan Das of Bengal during a Ranji Trophy match.

Later, Ashwin defended his move saying that it was within the rules of the game. "On my part, it was very instinctive. It wasn’t planned or anything like that. It’s there within the rules of the game. I don’t understand where the spirit of the game comes (in). Naturally, if it’s there in the rules it’s there," Ashwin, the KXIP captain, said after the match.

Cricket world was divided over the dismissal and here are some of the reactions from Twitter

(With inputs from PTI)