 "Anaya Bangar had played alongside well-known cricketers such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and his brother Musheer Khan before undergoing HRT and gender-reaffirming surgery. Image credit: Instagram/@anayabangar")
Anaya Bangar, the child of former India all-rounder and batting coach Sanjay Bangar, has dropped a bombshell claiming several well-known cricketers have sexually harassed her by sending unsolicited nude pictures of themselves along with lewd texts. Anaya, who formerly went by the name Aryan, reflected on her journey since undergoing Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) and gender-reaffirming surgery, opening up on the challenges that she faced socially as a transgender, including within the cricketing fraternity.
Anaya describes ‘insecurity and toxic masculinity’ in cricket world
Anaya revealed that she played alongside young stars such as Yashasvi Jaiswal as well as Sarfaraz Khan and his brother Musheer, among others, and had a tough time hiding her true gender identity on the field and in the dressing room before undergoing transformation.
“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,” Anaya, who had played at the Islam Gymkhana club in Mumbai as well as Leicestershire’s Hinckley Cricket Club, told Lallantop.
“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.
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Anaya added that she also faced verbal harassment, with one player abusing her in full public view in addition to asking her for her pictures. She also claimed a veteran cricketer wanted to “sleep” with her.
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More Shorts“The person used to give gaalis (abuses) 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 (senior) cricketer about my situation. He told me let’s go in the car, I want to sleep with you,” added Anaya, who currently lives in UK’s Manchester and continues to play cricket.