Anaya Bangar, the daughter of former Indian cricketer and coach Sanjay Bangar, last year documented a process of change after a hormonal replacement therapy and gender reaffirming surgery. Anaya, who was previously typically named as Aryan, is a sportsperson and has participated in age-group cricket as per his father’s footsteps. However, Anaya has disclosed that there were major challenges in continuing with cricket career after the gender reaffirming surgery. Anaya resides in the United Kingdom presently.
Facing ‘Toxic Masculinity’ in Cricket
Anaya’s path has not been smooth at all from the initial stage. In a recent interview, Anaya uncovered the ‘toxic masculinity’ in cricketing world.
“For me it was when I was eight or nine years old, I used to pick clothes from my mom’s cupboard and wear them.
Then, I used to look into the mirror and say, ‘I am a girl. I want to be a girl’,” Anaya said.
“I played with some well known cricketers now like Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal. Where I had to maintain secrecy about myself because dad is a well known figure. Cricket world is filled with insecurity and toxic masculinity.”
Support and Harassment Post-Surgery
Anaya was then asked about the reaction of fellow cricketers after she underwent gender reaffirmation surgery.
“There has been support and there have been some harassment as well,” Anaya said.
“What kind of harassment?” the anchor asked.
“There have been a few cricketers who randomly sent me nude pictures of them,” Anaya replied.
Anaya then went on to speak about a person, who used to indulge in verbal abuse. “The person used to give gaalis in front of everybody. The same person then used to come and sit beside me and ask for my photos. There was another instance, when I was in India, I told a puraane (veteran) cricketer about my situation. He told me let’s go in the car, I want to sleep with you.”
Similar to Bangar, Anaya is also a cricketer who has played for Islam Gymkhana in domestic club cricket. Besides this, the left-handed batter has also represented the Hinckley Cricket Club in Leicestershire.
ICC’s Ban on Transgender Players in Women’s Cricket
But in November 2023, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced transgender players will not be permitted to play women’s cricket.
“Inclusivity means a great deal to us as a sport, but our biggest concern was protecting the integrity of the international women’s game and player safety,” said then ICC CEO Geoff Allardice.
Taking to Instagram, Anaya also wrote a long post to convey disappointment over ICC’s new rule.
Anaya (earlier known as Aryan) resides in Manchester now and is extremely active on Instagram and always keeps her followers updated.
