Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar's child, Anaya, in a recent conversation with Lallantop, exposed the hypocrisy and dark reality of the world of cricket.
In the interview, she spoke about the toxic masculinity she had to face after her gender change surgery. Her transformation also included hormonal replacement therapy and a gender-affirming surgery.
Anaya, who was previously Aryan, is currently living in the UK and has played age-group cricket. In the interview, she further revealed the challenges she had to face after her surgery and how it gave her an altogether different notion about mankind.
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Sanjay Bangar's Child Exposes Hypocrisy In Cricket World
She spoke to Lallantop in detail about her transformation and the changes she has been feeling in herself post that. She admitted that her journey has not been easy since the surgery, as she has had to deal with some intolerable toxic masculinity. She started the interview by speaking about the first time she felt different from normal men and the moment she understood her real feminine side.
"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.Â
It was then that she revealed her fear of facing toxic masculinity. She also admitted that being the daughter of a former Indian cricketer added to the pressure.
"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. Cricket world is filled with insecurity and toxic masculinity" she said.
Anaya was then asked about how her fellow cricketers reacted when they first heard about gender-change surgery. It was then that she revealed the harassment she faced from people.
"There has been support and there have been some harassment as well," Anaya said.Â
When asked about how people harassed her she replied saying "There have been a few cricketers who randomly sent me nude pictures of them. "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."
Apart from playing local club cricket, Anaya also represented the Hinckley Cricket Club in Leicestershire. However, in November 2023, the ICC banned the participation of transgender athletes in women's cricket.
"Inclusivity is incredibly important to us as a sport, but our priority was to protect the integrity of the international women's game and the safety of players," stated then ICC CEO Geoff Allardice.
Anaya expressed her disappointment with the rule change made by the ICC in a lengthy Instagram post. As said above, currently she is residing in the UK.
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