Transgender cricketer Anaya Bangar has been cleared to pursue a spot in Australia‘s Girls’s Large Bash League from March 2027.
The 25-year-old, who’s the daughter of former India cricketer and nationwide batting coach Sanjay Bangar, acquired affirmation underneath Cricket Australia’s Inclusion of Transgender and Gender Various Gamers in Elite Cricket Coverage.
The choice makes Bangar eligible for elite home ladies’s cricket in Australia as soon as she satisfies the coverage’s necessities.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t assure her a WBBL contract. She should nonetheless entice the curiosity of a franchise and earn choice by way of her performances.
Bangar has additionally been cleared to play ladies’s group and Premier Cricket throughout Australian states and territories with quick impact.
She described Cricket Australia’s resolution as a serious breakthrough after beforehand fearing her taking part in profession had ended.
Transgender cricketer Anaya Bangar has been cleared to pursue elite ladies’s cricket in Australia from March 2027 onwards
Bangar can instantly play ladies’s group and Premier Cricket competitions throughout each Australian state and territory underneath present guidelines
Cricket Australia’s ruling supplies an eligibility pathway however doesn’t assure Bangar a contract with any WBBL franchise
‘It’s a nice day for me, particularly after understanding the truth that I can play cricket,’ Bangar informed The Indian Categorical.
‘There was a stage once I thought I’d by no means play cricket once more, however because of Cricket Australia, it has given me one other likelihood.’
Bangar underwent gender-affirming surgical procedure in Thailand in March 2026.
Cricket Australia’s elite coverage requires transgender ladies to maintain their serum testosterone focus under 10 nanomoles per litre for at the least 12 months.
Gamers should additionally adjust to ongoing monitoring necessities.
‘I’m now eligible to play within the Girls’s Large Bash League (WBBL) in Australia from March 2027 onwards,’ Bangar informed Bombay Occasions.
‘For me, that is extremely emotional as a result of there was a degree once I genuinely believed I had misplaced cricket ceaselessly.’
Bangar beforehand performed in Mumbai’s youth cricket system as a top-order batter and all-rounder.
The 25-year-old is the daughter of former India cricketer and nationwide batting coach Sanjay Bangar
She underwent gender-affirming surgical procedure in Thailand in March earlier than receiving the eligibility affirmation from Cricket Australia this week
Bangar beforehand developed as a top-order batter and all-rounder inside Mumbai’s extremely aggressive youth cricket system in India
She educated and competed alongside gamers together with Indian Check cricketer Sarfaraz Khan earlier than later shifting to the UK, the place she continued taking part in and coaching with native golf equipment.
Her quick activity can be discovering an Australian membership and rebuilding her match health by way of group and Premier Cricket.
‘The subsequent problem is to get myself into the absolute best bodily and aggressive form and put myself ready to be thought of by a WBBL franchise,’ she stated.
‘I nonetheless have to coach, compete, carry out and earn that chance.’
WBBL golf equipment recruit worldwide cricketers by way of overseas-player contracts and the competitors’s draft system.
Which means Bangar should first display that she will be able to carry out on the required stage earlier than any franchise considers including her to its squad.
‘The WBBL has an overseas-player contracting and draft system, the place golf equipment choose from the pool of obtainable worldwide gamers, prefer it occurs within the IPL or the WPL,’ she stated.
‘So finally, I nonetheless should persuade a franchise that I can contribute to their crew.
‘For me, which means getting again into aggressive cricket in Australian leagues, engaged on my batting, bowling, fielding and health, coaching constantly and demonstrating that I can carry out at that stage.’
Cricket Australia’s home guidelines differ from these governing worldwide ladies’s cricket.
The Worldwide Cricket Council dominated in 2023 that transgender ladies who skilled male puberty couldn’t compete in worldwide ladies’s matches, no matter whether or not they had undergone surgical procedure or testosterone remedy.
The coverage applies to ICC-sanctioned worldwide cricket however doesn’t forestall nationwide governing our bodies from establishing their very own eligibility guidelines for home competitions.
Bangar additionally contacted the Board of Management for Cricket in India final 12 months to find out whether or not she may play ladies’s cricket within the nation.
She stated she had not acquired a response.
A BCCI official subsequently stated the governing physique had not established a proper coverage overlaying transgender ladies in home cricket.
