Ravichandran Ashwin and Eoin Morgan had a argument before Dinesh Karthik separated the two

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan was involved in an exchange of words with Delhi Capitals spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin on Tuesday in Sharjah.

Delhi Capitals led by Rishabh Pant put up a meagre total of 127/9 in the first innings after they were asked to bat by Morgan during the toss.

Shikhar Dhawan opened with Australian batsman Steve Smith as the duo started off well scoring seven runs per over before the southpaw holed out to Venkatesh Iyer at point off Lockie Ferguson’s bowling.

Smith, who played his first match for the Capitals in the UAE leg, made 39 from 34 balls before Ferguson cleaned the batter’s stumps. Sunil Narine and the lanky Iyer bowled brilliantly in the middle overs as they shared four wickets between them and combinedly conceded 47 runs in eight overs.

Delhi Capitals were 98/6 after 16 overs with skipper Rishabh Pant joined by Ashwin at the crease. The ugly incident took place in the final over of the first innings as Ashwin and Morgan were almost at each other’s throat just after the former was dismissed by Tim Southee.

If not for Ashwin’s Tamil Nadu skipper and KKR wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, who immediately intervened and kept Ashwin at one end, there could have been a heated moment between the two players.

The trigger started when Ashwin and Pant stole an extra run on the final ball of the penultimate over. First Ashwin was seen having a few words of exchange with Southee before he fall out with the KKR skipper.

However, during Kolkata Knight Riders’ chase, the off-spinner got the better of Morgan as he got his wicket for a second-ball duck and later pumped up with a roar followed by a stare at the KKR skipper. KKR eventually won by three wickets and move to fourth position with 10 points.

WATCH VIDEO: Rishabh Pant almost knocked out Dinesh Karthik with his bat

This was Ashwin’s second spat with an England player in IPL after his controversial dismissal of Jos Buttler in IPL 2019, which once again brought the question about the Mankad dismissal was in the spirit of the game or not.