“Few cricketers randomly sent me nude pictures” - Sanjay Bangar’s son makes shocking revelation amid IPL 2025
Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar's son, Anaya Bangar, made a stunning revelation about harassment from certain cricketers amid IPL 2025. Anaya dominated the headlines last year after undergoing hormonal replacement therapy and gender-affirming surgery.
Previously named Aryan before the surgery, Anaya played age-group cricket and revealed issues with playing cricket post-surgery.
In a recent interview with Lallantop, Anaya spoke about the different challenges post-transformation, saying (Via NDTV):
"There has been support and there have been some harassment as well. There have been a few cricketers who randomly sent me nude pictures of them. I played with some well known cricketers now like Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal. I had to maintain secrecy about myself because dad is a well known figure. Cricket world is filled with insecurity and toxic masculinity."
Anaya added:
"For me it was when I was eight or nine years old, I used to pick clothes from my mom's cupboard and wear them. Then, I used to look into the mirror and say, 'I am a girl. I want to be a girl. There was another instance, when I was in India, I told a puraane (veteran) cricketer about my situation. He told me let's go in the car, I want to sleep with you."
Anaya has played for the Islam Gymkhana in club cricket and Hinckley Cricket Club in Leicestershire.
Sanjay Bangar was a serviceable all-rounder for Team India
Sanjay Bangar played ODIs and Tests for India in the first half of the 2000s, predominantly under skipper Sourav Ganguly. A right-handed batter who bowled reliable medium-pace with the ball, Bangar made 27 overall appearances for India.
He scored 470 runs at an average of 29.37 in 12 Tests and 180 runs at an average of 13.84 in 15 ODIs. Bangar also finished with 14 wickets across the two formats.
The now 52-year-old scored an unbeaten 100* in only his second Test against Zimbabwe. However, Bangar's most memorable knock came against England in Leeds in 2002.
With Ganguly opting to bat first on a green top, Bangar opened the batting and scored a defiant 68 off 236 balls to set up India's famous innings victory.
The former all-rounder also played 12 IPL games for two franchises - the now-defunct Deccan Chargers and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2008 and 2009.