Cricket-Transgender Indian player Bangar feels reborn after Australian lifeline

Anaya Bangar feels reborn after Cricket Australia (CA) handed ‌the ​transgender Indian player the chance to revive a sporting dream she feared was slipping away as doors back home closed on her.

CA's decision to clear Bangar to play elite women's cricket from March next year gave the 25-year-old a chance. "It feels like my life is ‌back," Bangar, who underwent sex reassignment surgery in March, told Reuters.

"I'd lost hope or had stopped believing that something like this might happen in my lifetime. The day I found out, I was blank. I didn't know how to react, what to say, what not to say. It was just there and it took me a while to process, but here we are." The daughter ‌of former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, she found her options limited when the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned anyone who has gone through male puberty from women's cricket in 2023.

Australia, though, ‌has a policy that allows transgender players to participate in women's cricket at community level and offers a path to compete at the elite level if they fulfil certain criteria. South Africa women's international Marizanne Kapp said the decision to allow Bangar to play in the elite women's game was "absolutely ridiculous", reflecting concerns over fairness in women's sport that have caused several global governing bodies to impose bans similar to the ICC's.

Bangar, who played as a ⁠top-order batter and ​all-rounder in age-group cricket in Mumbai, said her ⁠transition had left her without any advantage over the players she will be competing against in elite women's cricket. "I'm trying to put my story, evidence, body and medical data out there," Bangar said.

"If you don't actually want ⁠to read into that and just base your opinions or assumptions on your own experience, then it's coming from a lack of acknowledgement and ignorance as well." BARRIERS AND AMBITIONS

Bangar said her transition had also strained ​family relationships. "The support was bare minimum," she said. "Most of the things I've done have been because of me. Family was there for basic needs and survival but when ⁠it came to the necessary steps and emotional support, it was just me. My father, however, helped me with the surgeries and everything."

Bangar hopes one day to play in Australia's Women's Big Bash League, India's Women's Premier League (WPL) and ⁠represent ​her country. The last two of those dreams depend on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has no formal policy on the inclusion of transgender players in women's cricket but has aligned with the ICC ruling.

"I really look forward to playing WPL and representing my country and winning something for my country," she added. "It's all dependent on ICC and ⁠BCCI and their guidelines as well. I hope that they take inspiration from Cricket Australia and try to set up rules which are based on case-by-case applications rather than ⁠blanket bans."

Bangar's initial attempts to engage the BCCI went ⁠unanswered. "Having a father who represented the country and me, who was also part of the ecosystem of BCCI, I was met with silence when I tried to approach them with my case," she said.

"I didn't do it out of emotions. It was merit-based, science-based and ‌an open dialogue which I wanted ‌to have. It was quite heartbreaking that my own country doesn't have my back."