Like his father, Aryan Bangar is a left-handed batter. He played for Islam Gymkhana in Mumbai’s local club cricket before representing Hinckley Cricket Club in Leicestershire. Following the surgery, Aryan now identifies as Anaya.

Taking to Instagram, Anaya revealed that while the journey to becoming a professional cricketer has been filled with challenges and sacrifices, her off-field journey of “embracing her true self” was no different, but is proud to have taken the road, which was labelled as “the greatest victory of all.”

The caption from the deleted Instagram post read: “From early mornings on the field to facing the doubts and judgments of others, every step has demanded strength. But beyond the game, I had another journey. A path of self-discovery and a lot of challenges faced.

“Embracing my true self meant making hard choices, letting go of the comfort of fitting in, and standing up for who I am, even when it wasn’t easy. Today, I’m proud to be a part of the sport I love at any level or category ,not only as an athlete but as my authentic self. The road hasn’t been easy, but finding my true self has been the greatest victory of all.”

Anaya to give up on cricket?

In a separate post on the social media page, Anaya opened up on the “painful reality” of how the ‘Hormone Replacement Therapy’ affected her cricketing abilities. The post read: “As a trans woman on HRT, my body changed drastically. I’ve been losing the muscle mass, strength, muscle memory and athletic abilities I once relied on. The game I’ve loved for so long is slipping away from me.”

The 23-year-old has also been affected by the lack of “proper regulations for trans woman in cricket,” accusing the system of failing her as she called for “policies that don’t make us choose between passion and our identity.”

HT.com has reached out to Anaya. The copy will be updated when we get a byte.