Pakistan's Test captain Shan Masood expressed frustration and confusion over controversial lbw dismissal during the fourth and final day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
The decision was overturned by the ball-tracking technology, Hawkeye, after an on-field not-out call, sparking a heated discussion about the accuracy of the technology.
The incident occurred in the 84th over of Pakistan's second innings. Masood, who was batting on a solid 145 after an opening partnership of 205 runs with Babar Azam, was struck on the back pad by a delivery from Kwena Maphaka.
The ball, which kept low, initially saw the on-field umpire, Nitin Menon, rule it not out.
However, South Africa opted to review the decision, and the ball-tracking system indicated that the ball was clipping the off stump, leading to the reversal of the decision.
Masood, however, disagreed with the decision, questioning the accuracy of the technology. He argued that the trajectory shown by Hawkeye did not match the delivery he faced.
"It's simple. It was an out-swinger. If you see the ball that I was beaten by, it jagged away a long way. I was beaten on the outside edge, and it was shown as an ins-winger. I was baffled by that to be very honest," Masood stated during the post-match press conference.
The Pakistan captain's dismissal was a key moment in the match, which saw Pakistan, following on, post a total of 478 runs.
Despite his valiant efforts, Pakistan's fightback was ultimately in vain, as South Africa chased down the modest target of 58 with 10 wickets in hand, completing a 2-0 series sweep.
Masood was not the only Pakistan player to face a contentious decision. Earlier, Saud Shakeel survived an lbw appeal before lunch, despite the ball appearing to angle down the leg stump.
However, replays revealed that the ball would have hit the leg stump had South Africa reviewed the decision.
Frustrated by the events, Masood called for administrators to reassess the ball-tracking technology’s accuracy.
"With the naked eye, you could see it felt like it was outside the line as well. I just felt it was a different picture. I didn't get hit where Hawkeye was showing it to be hit. I was hit more on the outside of the leg than the inside; it shows it on the inside. That's not an in-swinger. I was beaten by an out-swinger and that's what the umpire thought as well, and that's all I can say to that."
He concluded by stating, "It's up to the administrators to see if that's a fair decision or not, but I certainly felt that technology didn't show the trajectory of how that ball was."
