The “girls in blue,” as the Indian women cricketers are fondly called, have won more than just a World Cup — their triumph carries significance far beyond the cricket field. The victory has reignited hope and inspiration for many, including Anaya Bangar, a trans woman and daughter of former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar. Anaya dreams of one day playing for India’s women’s team.
For Anaya, her gender transition — from Aryan to Anaya — feels even more meaningful now, as women’s cricket finds itself in the brightest spotlight it has ever seen. Meeting this reporter at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) grounds at Brabourne Stadium, Anaya reflected on her emotions: “This is a bittersweet moment for me,” she said. “It’s like scoring a century but losing the match.”
The letter
As she flicked her silky hair strands back, she said, “I have written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The letter states that I have been tested from January to March 2025. It was a six-week research project conducted at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport (UK). There, I have highlighted that because of the hormonal injections that I have taken and incidentally, these are ongoing, my body has feminised.
Anaya Bangar walks down a South Mumbai street. PIC/RANE ASHISH
Several tests showed that the results align with the CISgender feminine range. It would be fair for me to play in women`s teams. Cricket/sport bodies should take things on a case-by-case basis when it comes to trans women in women`s sport. I agree that certain trans women may have an advantage in women`s sport, but certainly not all. That is why I emphasise we need to go on a case-by-case basis.”
Anaya, who is 24, had some male cricketers give her a high five or wave to her as they walked past her in the club. She said, “There are some who are my friends. Others have distanced themselves ever since my transition journey began in 2023. I came out to my parents in 2022. In 2023, I started transitioning. In 2024, I was in the UK studying for my Masters in Design Innovation,” said the Rizvi College graduate.
Gender Dysphoria
Anaya is back in Mumbai, out and proud, where she said, “It is a big relief not to have to live a double life, as I was doing as a boy earlier. Every time I looked in the mirror, Aryan, the boy, did not seem to be me. That was not the real me. I was suffering from gender dysphoria.” Gender dysphoria is the distress a person feels when their internal gender identity does not align with the gender they were assigned at birth. Anaya said, “When I first came out to my parents, they seemed shocked. There were a load of questions that followed. My younger brother was supportive, but I would be lying if I said everything was easy. It was a tough journey. It is tough even for me as I negotiate the world with a new identity. I am still on hormonal injections, though my transition has already happened; I have to take hormonal injections throughout life. I have had an Adam`s Apple reduction surgery recently.” Adam’s Apple surgery is also known as a Tracheal Shave. It falls within the scope of transgender surgery. Anaya continued, “I have also had breast augmentation surgery. Gender is not just what you have in your pants. It is a mode of identity and self-expression.”
The journey
There is the physical journey, which is tangible, all about surgeries, a changing body, but importantly, there is the mental journey, which is parallel and is still very challenging. “Some older friends have fallen away,” said Anaya. “After creating distance, there are some who now acknowledge me as I am getting somewhere as a content creator. They are trying to come `back` into my circle,” explained Anaya. It is not all dark, though. Anaya brightened as she said, “I have my supporters too. Real, genuine people who were with me, burnt at times by the heat of the flames as I walked through fire.” The most wrenching on this path was “the transition that took me away from cricket, the game I grew up with,” said Anaya, who is a left-arm batter and left-arm spin bowler. “ I am going to get back to cricket, will start practising in the nets, very soon,” said Anaya stoically. The women`s World Cup win, most believe, will change mindsets about women in sport across the country. When Harmanpreet Kaur closed her fist around that ball, taking the catch off Nadine De Klerk to seal the final, she opened minds everywhere. Anaya said brightly, “Like everyone, my heart was flying with that victory. Now, I wait for a day when we see more change for trans women in sport. Trans women athletes are allowed post tests which show they are within women`s parameters to vie for selection and be allowed to compete,” concluded Anaya, smashing a cover drive (her favourite shot) into the fence, hoping administrators can hear.
