Anaya Bangar has been the talk of the town on social media ever since the world came to know of her transformation journey. Anaya underwent hormone replacement therapy and gender-affirming surgery in order to better align with the way she identified herself. However, the changes came at a big cost for Anaya, who was told by her own father that there’s no space for her in cricket anymore. Already in a fight against society, battling the conflict of mind and demons of the outer world, Anaya had to give up the sport she duly loved.
In an interview on Lallantop, Anaya opened up about her decision to exit cricket. While the topic was understandably a sensitive one, considering the message came from her father, Anaya said that his Sanjay, made it clear that there’s no space for her in cricket in the future. Here’s how the conversation went.
Interviewer: “You said that your father asked you to stop playing cricket as there’s no space for you in the sport anymore.”
Anaya: “I don’t want to talk about my father in this interview.”
Interviewer: “The video is already available in the public domain. You mentioned it yourself, I am only quoting you.”
Anaya: “Yes, I am aware about that. He was just stating fact that there’s no place for me in cricket. I had to take a stand for myself. I did get suicidal thoughts as it felt like the entire world is against me and the decision I took (hormone therapy to become a woman), now has left me with no space in this system. Even basic opportunities and rights are no longer there for me.”
“I still had space for myself from the family point of view. But it wasn’t there in society, cricket or the exterior world.”
Further in the interview, Anaya also revealed that a senior cricketer sent him nudes, hoping to sleep with her after coming to know of the transformation.
“I have played with some well-known cricketers like Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. I had to maintain secrecy about myself because my dad is a well-known figure. The cricket world is filled with insecurity and toxic masculinity,” she added.
“There has been support and there have been some harassments as well. 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. In another instance, when I was in India, I told a veteran cricketer about my situation. He told me let’s go in the car. I want to sleep with you,” she explained.
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