Anaya Bangar, daughter of former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar, has appealed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to support the inclusion of transgender athletes in cricket.
Current ICC regulations bar transgender women from participating in women’s cricket, a policy introduced after the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Anaya, 24, who began her gender transition in 2021, shared an eight-page scientific report outlining her journey and the medical data supporting her case.
She intends to formally submit these findings to both the ICC and BCCI. In a widely circulated Instagram post, Anaya wrote, “Returning to the field as Anaya is not just about playing—it is about reclaiming the right to belong, compete, and dream with dignity.”
View this post on Instagram
Though institutional support has yet to materialize, Anaya said the personal encouragement she has received has been deeply moving. “Well-known cricketers have reached out—some sent hearts, others said, ‘We see you.’ In a sport where silence is the norm, even a whisper of support felt thunderous,” she said.
On her complex relationship with her father, Sanjay Bangar, who has yet to publicly acknowledge her transition, Anaya remains hopeful: “I hope one day he will find a way to stand beside me.”
![Local residents at the Swat River, which is overflowing due to pre-monsoon heavy rains in the area on the outskirts of Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's Swat Valley [Sherin Zada/AP]](https://mmnews.tv/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Flooding-in-Swat-river-120x86.jpg)
