Shan Masood, the Pakistan opener, sparked outrage among fans after he reviewed a seemingly plumb LBW decision on day one of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.

The third over of the day saw a massive inswinger from Tim Southee hit Shan Masood on his right boot, with the batsman seemingly caught plumb in front of the stumps. The umpire promptly raised his fingers to send the opener back. However, after a brief discussion with his partner Abid Ali, Masood decided to go upstairs for a review.

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The only way the opener was going to be saved was if the ball had hit the bat first, which appeared to be the sole reason why he reviewed the decision. However, replays showed that his bat was behind his front pad and had not even come in contact with the ball.

Ball tracking showed the ball crashing into the middle stump, sparking a huge uproar from fans for wasting the review early on.

Non-striker Abid Ali also copped criticism for encouraging Masood to go for the review despite him having a clear view from the other end. In fact, it was Ali who seemed to have pushed Masood to go upstairs.

https://twitter.com/sahaq00/status/1345509410949320705?s=19

The opener is going through a rough patch after his hundred in England last year, and has three ducks in Tests since the start of 2020. In fact, since his 156 at Manchester in August, Masood hasn’t made more than 18 in his last seven Test innings.

https://twitter.com/IamAdnanchishti/status/1345598064384475142?s=19

The desperate review on Sunday earned Masood plenty of flak, but the opener, who hit a purple patch with three consecutive Test hundreds in 2020 right before his ongoing rut, would be keen to make amends in the next innings.

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