'Kill Shreyas Iyer, Marry Abhishek Sharma, Hook Up With Shubman Gill': Anaya Bangar's Clear Take

In the game, Anaya picked to "kill Shreyas Iyer, marry Abhishek Sharma and hook up with Shubman Gill."© NDTV Library

A video of Anaya Bangar, the daughter of former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar, is going viral on social media. It is from a recent interview in which Anaya was asked to play 'Kill, marry, hookup' with Indian cricketers Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Shreyas Iyer as the options. "Kill Shreyas Iyer, marry Abhishek Sharma and hook up with Shubman Gill," responded Anaya in Krishnank Atrey's YouTube channel. Anaya played age-group men's cricket for Mumbai before undergoing a gender-affirming surgery in March this year, completing a transition process that began in 2022.

Anaya, who is planning to move to Australia to resume her cricketing career after undergoing gender-affirming surgery, urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) earlier this month to take a leaf out of Cricket Australia's playbook by introducing a pathway to enable transgender players to compete in women's cricket.

"If BCCI can follow what Australia has done, that would be a wonderful thing," Anaya told Hindustan Times.

On facing online abuse after undergoing gender-affirming surgery, Anaya added: "They haven't experienced what I have."

CA's landmark verdict on transgender cricketers raised eyebrows, with South Africa all-rounder Marizanne Kapp criticising the decision.

"Absolutely ridiculous, this should NOT be allowed!" Kapp said while tagging the official handle of the WBBL.

Without taking offence to Kapp's comments slamming CA's decision, Anaya countered the Proteas star's remarks, saying the path had been cleared only after undergoing extensive testing.

"I think I understand the place where she's coming from. To counter the point about the unfair advantage aspect: there has been testing done by the Manchester University Institute of Sport. They did a 12-week-long testing program with me regarding my body's athletic capabilities after being on hormone replacement therapy for a year. That test concluded that my physical parameters fall within the cisgender female athlete range," she said.

Anaya also stressed that there is scientific evidence that she would not have any unfair advantage when she returns to professional women's cricket.

"So, in terms of unfair advantage, I already have scientific evidence backing my case. On top of that, Cricket Australia has put out proper policies on inclusion, fairness and maintaining the dignity of women's sport. I am already complying with those guidelines. My body doesn't produce testosterone anymore since I've had the surgery. My testosterone levels are 0.6 nanomoles. Because of that, I have been experiencing bone density loss; I can literally feel my bones aching. I can feel my muscle mass reducing and my stamina levels decreasing. I can't work out the same way I used to. So, whenever rules and policies are set out there, I would say it needs to be on a case-by-case basis because not all trans women have an unfair advantage," Anaya stressed.

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