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Former India cricketer and head coach Sanjay Bangar's child, Anaya Bangar, shared how a veteran cricketer humiliated her during her cricketing days. In 2024, she spoke publicly for the first time about their journey of transformation, which included hormone replacement therapy and gender-affirming surgery.
Just like her father, Anaya has also played cricket. She played for Islam Gymkhana in local club cricket and has also represented Hinckley Cricket Club in Leicestershire. She revealed that there were significant hurdles in pursuing a cricket career after the gender reaffirming surgery. She currently lives in the United Kingdom.
In a recent interview with Lallantop, Anaya recalled how fellow and senior cricketers harassed her when she used to play age-group cricket.
"There has been support and there have been some harassment as well...There have been a few cricketers who randomly sent me nude pictures of them" said Anaya
Labelling most of the community as representing and upholding toxic masculinity, she elaborated, "I played with some well known cricketers now like Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal. I had to maintain secrecy about myself because dad is a well-known figure. The cricket world is filled with insecurity and toxic masculinity".
She also revealed that there was someone in the team who used to abuse her in front of everybody and then ask her for her pictures. Anaya also said that when she was in India, she told a veteran cricketer about her situation and he told her to sleep with him.
It didn't just stop there, the disappointing encounters seemed to be unending for Ananya. Sharing a saddening anecdote, she said, "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".
Speaking of her own journey, however, she was quite young when she started realising that she was actually born to be a girl: "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' ", she shared.
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