Mumbai/Sydney: Anaya Bangar, daughter of former India cricketer and batting coach Sanjay Bangar, has been granted permission to play women’s community cricket in Australia. The 23-year-old Anaya, who was previously male and was known as Aryan, underwent hormone replacement surgery in Thailand in 2022 and gender-affirming surgery in 2026 to transition from male to female.
She will now focus on making her return to cricket as a transgender woman. She currently lives in England.
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Cricket Australia has granted Anaya Bangar permission to play community cricket anywhere across the country. After receiving no response in India regarding opportunities to play cricket in the transgender women’s category, she contacted Cricket Australia in June. Under its regulations, the Australian cricket board has allowed her to play premier cricket.
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Anaya will also be eligible to play elite cricket in Australia from March 2027. This level includes major competitions such as the Women’s Big Bash League. However, when she arrives in Australia in March 2027, she will be eligible to play in tournaments including the Big Bash only if her blood test shows a serum testosterone level below 10 nmol/L and she fulfils the other eligibility requirements.
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In the past, when she played as a boy under the name Aryan, Anaya played Under-19 cricket in Mumbai alongside current Indian cricketers Sarfaraz Khan and his brother Musheer Khan. She is delighted with Cricket Australia’s decision. “At one point, I was afraid that I might never be able to play cricket again,” she said.
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