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: 

In the 2nd T20I at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan won by 57 runs. Having won the toss, Pakistan batted first and put up a good total of 201/6 in their 20 overs, before bowling Bangladesh out for 144 in 19 overs, winning the match comfortably while taking an unassailable 2–0 lead in the series.

Pakistan Innings

Pakistan's top order did a good job to get Pakistan off to a good start in the opening phases of the innings. Sahibzada Farhan was the top scorer, with a swift 74 off 41 balls, backed up pretty well by Hassan Nawaz with an unbeaten 51 off 26 balls. And Mohammad Haris provided a quick-fire 41 runs from 25 balls to provide the momentum needed for Pakistan to get to a total of over 200.  With respect to bowling, Bangladesh's best bowlers included Tanzim Hasan Sakib (2/36 in 4 overs) and Hasan Mahmud (2/47 in 4 overs), who both fared reasonably but were unable to truly contain the barrage from Pakistan's batting. Rishad Hossain took a wicket but was expensive, with bowling figures of 1/50 in 4 overs.

Bangladesh Innings

Bangladesh was never able to really settle in their innings in chasing exactly 202, with only Tanzim Hasan Sakib able to cross fifty with a modest 50 off 31 balls, while Tanzid Hasan (33 off 19) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (23 off 17) made an attempt to stabilize the innings. However, Pakistan’s bowling attack remained dominant throughout. Abrar Ahmed was the standout with 3/19 in 4 overs, well supported by Faheem Ashraf (1/8 in 2 overs) and Shadab Khan (1/13 in 2 overs). Their combined effort restricted Bangladesh to 144 in 19 overs, falling 57 runs short.

This convincing win handed Pakistan a 2-0 series lead, with one game left to play.

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PAK vs BAN, 2nd T20I: Match Scorecard

Pakistan—201/6 (20 Overs)

Bangladesh—144/10 (19 Overs)