Asia Cup 2025 is scheduled to commence on September 9, and cricket fans will witness the India vs. Pakistan clash on September 14, five days after the inauguration of the tournament. Both of the nation’s cricket boards have already announced their full squad, on pen and paper, and both teams are looking strong. Though, due to recent performances, India will be the favorite to win the game, but Pakistan will definitely try their best to challenge Team India hard. Both the teams have talented keeper-batters who can open their innings. For India, it is Sanju Samson, and for Pakistan, it is Sahibzada Farhan. Between these two top-order keeper-batters, to determine who is the better, we have to do a statistical breakdown. 

Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson, 30, is already an established name in world cricket. So far he has played 42 T20Is after making his debut on July 19, 2015, in this particular format for India. In 42 matches and 38 innings, the right-handed batter has gathered a total of 861 runs at an average of 25.32. 3 hundreds and a couple of half centuries are the proofs of his batting brilliance. Samson’s highest score, 111, was against Bangladesh at Hyderabad on October 12, 2024. The other two hundreds he scored were against South Africa, which shows his ability to bat even against top-ranked teams. Interestingly, Sanju never played against Pakistan in a T20I match.

Samson's T20I career stats in brief:

Sahibzada Farhan

The top order keeper-batter from Pakistan can be considered a late bloomer. Unlike Sanju Samson, 29-year-old Farhan has so far represented Pakistan in only 15 T20Is. His recent outings against the West Indies and Bangladesh were impressive and earned him a spot on the 2025 Asia Cup Pakistan cricket team. Scoring a couple of fifty-plus innings implies his skills in subcontinent conditions. Sahibzada made his T20 International debut on July 8, 2018, against Australia, where he only got a duck. A couple of months later, when Pakistan again faced Australia in a T20I encounter, that time in Dubai, the right-handed batter scored 39 runs. In his last T20I, which was against Bangladesh in Lauderhill, he got a well-played 74. 

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Farhan's T20I career stats in brief:

Sanju Samson vs Sahibzada Farhan T20I statistical comparison: