Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood expressed frustration and confusion over the lbw’s controversial dismissal during the fourth and final day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
The decision was overturned by ball tracking technology Hawkeye after an on-field call, sparking a heated discussion about the technology’s accuracy.
The incident occurred in the 84th innings of Pakistan’s second innings. Masood, who was batting a solid 145 after a 205-run opening partnership with Babar Azam, was hit in the back by a delivery from Kwena Maphaka.
The ball, which remained low, initially saw field umpire Nitin Menon rule it out.
However, South Africa chose to review the decision, and the ball tracking system indicated that the ball was clipping the stump, leading to the decision being reversed.
Masood, however, disagreed with the decision, questioning the accuracy of the technology. He argued that the trajectory shown by Gavião Arqueiro did not correspond to the birth he faced.
“It’s simple. It was an out-swinger. If you see the ball I was beaten by, it came from long. I was beaten on the outside edge and was shown as an inside winger. I was perplexed by that, to be very honest,” he said Masood during the post-match press conference.
The Pakistan captain’s dismissal was a key moment in the match, which saw Pakistan then post a total of 478 runs.
Despite their valiant efforts, Pakistan’s fightback was in vain as South Africa chased down the modest target of 58 with 10 wickets in hand, completing a 2-0 run.
Masood was not the only Pakistan player to face a controversial decision. Earlier, Saud Shakeel survived an lbw appeal before lunch despite the ball appearing to land on leg stump.
However, replays revealed that the ball would have hit the leg stump had South Africa reviewed the decision.
Frustrated by the developments, Masood asked administrators to re-evaluate the accuracy of ball-tracking technology.
“To the naked eye, you could see it looked like it was out of line too. I just felt like it was a different picture. I wasn’t hit where Hawkeye was showing to be hit. I was hit more on the outside of the leg than the inside; that not an in-swinger, I was beaten by an out-swinger and that’s what the umpire thought too, and that’s all I can say about that.
He concluded by stating, “It’s up to administrators to see whether that’s a fair decision or not, but I certainly felt like the technology didn’t show the trajectory of where that ball was.”
