Daughter of former Indian cricketer and ex-coach Sanjay Bangar, Anaya has made shocking revelations about her journey after she transformed from a male to a female.
Claiming that the world of cricket is very insecure and full of toxic masculinity, in an interview with Lallantop, Anaya shed light on the fact that she had to maintain secrecy when playing cricket while growing up. “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.”
While she accepted that there has been support regarding her decision, there has also been harassment. She revealed that a few cricketers have been randomly sending her nude pictures of themselves, while some people have been asking her to send pictures of herself. “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.
She recalled another incident where she confided about her situation to a veteran cricketer, and he replied, “Let’s go in your car, I want to sleep with you.”
Reflecting on her journey, she revealed in the interview that she knew at the age of 8-9 years old that she was in the wrong body. “I used to get clothes from my mother’s wardrobe and look in the mirror and say that I want to be a girl.”
The cricket career of Anaya, who was Aryan back in the day, started at the age of 12. However, transwomen have been banned from playing cricket as per the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules.
She also called for setting new margins to determine the eligibily of trans women in women’s sports.
Last year, Anaya shared a post on Instagram expressing her hurt over the ban on transgenders from competing in cricket.
“We need policies that don’t make us choose between our identity and our passions. Trans women deserve the right to compete, play, and thrive,” Anaya had said in her post last year.