German footballer says Afridi is his favorite

ISLAMABAD: German footballer Dietmar Hamann while admiring Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Thursday said he is one of his favorite cricketers and he enjoys seeing him playing on the field.

Dietmar Hamann who represented Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Germany, said it is great to see Afridi back in the Pakistan team. "I am pleased that Afridi did well in the recently concluded West Indies tour. Afridi is a tremendous cricketer," Dietmar Hamann said in an interview to Pakpassion.net.

In the West Indies tour, Afridi reached the milestone to hit 400 sixes in an international career. It took Afridi 437 innings and 17 years to complete 400 sixes.

Dietmar Hamann who represented Germany on 59 occasions and was a member of the 2002 World Cup squad that finished runners up, said Sachin Tendulkar is also his favorite cricketer.

"Sachin is a wonderful cricketer. I have always enjoyed watching all-rounder's in action as they have a lot of skill to perform with both bat and ball and are generally the stand out cricketers," he said.

Talking about the popularity of cricket in Germany, he said the popularity of cricket is mainly amongst the Pakistani and Indian communities living in Germany. "Some of the local population also play cricket and I would class it as a developing sport in Germany," he added.