A Transgender Cricketer’s Fight to Return to the 22 Yards

For Anaya Bangar, cricket was never merely a game. It was an identity, a childhood companion and, for years, the one dream she believed would remain with her for life.

Then came the transition.

The 25-year-old transgender, daughter of former India all-rounder and coach Sanjay Bangar had to step away from the game she loved while undergoing gender-affirming treatment and surgery. There were moments when the separation from cricket seemed permanent.

“I had thought at one point that I might never be able to play cricket again,” Anaya said.

Now, however, a door has opened—and with it, the possibility of a remarkable second innings.

Cricket Australia has cleared Anaya to play female community cricket after reviewing her medical and physiological reports. More significantly, she says she has been given the opportunity to work towards eligibility for Australia’s top domestic women's cricket, with March 2027 emerging as a milestone in her journey.

“After March 2027, I will become eligible to play in Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). It is an extremely emotional moment for me,” she said. “Playing in a women’s league is not everything. The biggest thing is that I will be able to play cricket again.”

Cricket: A dream Interrupted

That, perhaps, is the essence of Anaya’s extraordinary battle—not simply the pursuit of a place in the WBBL, but the desperate determination to return to the familiar 22 yards from which life had forced her away.

“Cricket has been an inseparable part of my identity since childhood,” she said. “From the time I began my transition, I had to stay away from cricket. That was one of the most difficult experiences of my life.”

Anaya is no stranger to competitive cricket. Before her transition, she played age-group cricket for Mumbai and shared the field with players such as Sarfaraz Khan and Musheer Khan. The game, therefore, is not a newly discovered ambition.

It is a dream interrupted—and one she is now trying to reclaim.

Speculation about her return gathered pace when videos of her training surfaced on social media, with Anaya at one stage seen carrying a Royal Challengers Bengaluru kit bag. But her sights are now firmly set on Australia.

Cricket Australia has for years followed a policy dealing with transgender and gender-diverse participation in domestic cricket. While Anaya has received clearance at the community level, she says she can also pursue a pathway towards the highest level of women’s domestic cricket in the country, provided she meets the relevant eligibility and performance requirements.

Present Challenge

“The challenge before me now is to get physically ready for competitive cricket at that level,” Anaya said. “Only then will WBBL franchises consider picking me.”

The task is formidable. Clearance is only the first step. Selection, she knows, cannot be demanded—it has to be earned.

Under WBBL rules, franchises have avenues to recruit overseas players through the draft as well as direct contracting. But for Anaya, the regulations matter less than what comes before them: convincing a franchise that she can contribute and compete.

“I have to prove that I can play cricket at that level,” she said.

And so, the grind has begun.

Batting. Bowling. Fielding. Fitness.

Anaya has thrown herself into an intensive training regime and wants to bring herself into peak competitive condition over the coming months.

ICC & BCCI Obstacles

Her journey also throws the spotlight on the difficult and evolving question of transgender participation in elite sport. The International Cricket Council (ICC) does not currently permit transgender women who have experienced male puberty to compete in international women’s cricket under its eligibility regulations.

The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) too has no clearly established pathway that would presently allow Anaya to pursue women's elite cricket in India.

Anaya has publicly urged cricket’s governing bodies to evolve clearer and more supportive frameworks for transgender athletes.

But while the larger debate continues, she is concentrating on the one thing over which she has complete control—her own game.

For Anaya Bangar, this is more than a comeback.

It is a fight to return home—to the 22 yards where a dream was interrupted, but perhaps, not defeated.