Shan Masood questions hawkeye accuracy

The Pakistan captain argued that the trajectory shown by Hawkeye did not match the delivery

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."

Disappointed Basit

While addressing the loss, Ali acknowledged the disappointment but highlighted the strength of the opposition, noting, "This is the same South African team that reached the World Test Championship final." Comparing the current whitewash to past defeats, he remarked, "The loss against Bangladesh hurt much more than this one."

Ali also pointed out the positives from the series, particularly the comeback of pacer Mohammad Abbas after three years.

He commented, "The world saw that Abbas still has the potential, especially on lively pitches." Reflecting on individual performances, he praised Shan Masood's innings, though he acknowledged it was slower on the second day. "Shan played a responsible knock, but the team's poor first innings performance, where they only managed 194, was the turning point," Ali said.

He also shared his views on the need for player replacements in cases of injury, citing the example of Saim Ayub, whose absence impacted Pakistan's batting. Ali suggested, "The ICC should introduce a rule for injury replacements similar to concussion substitutes."