Sanjay Bangar Height, Weight, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sanjay Bangar

• Sanjay Bangar was born into a family of farmers in Beed, Maharashtra.

• When he was a child, he watched the game of cricket for the first time on a neighbour’s television and developed an interest in the sport; the match that he watched was the 1983 Cricket World Cup Final.

• Sanjay began playing cricket when he was in school.

• At the age of 14, he got selected in Maharashtra’s Under-15 cricket team and played just one game for the team.

• At the age of 15, Sanjay decided to move to Mumbai to pursue cricket, since there was very little scope for cricket in Aurangabad.

• In Mumbai, he initially faced tough competition as the boys of his age (including Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli) were far superior to him.

• Although he was a good scorer in the club cricket, Sanjay did not get to play any matches for many years.

• Initially, he played for the youth teams of Maharashtra and Mumbai and later got associated with the Railways team.

• Bangar made his First-Class debut for Railways against Vidarbha in December 1993. Sanjay played only one game in his debut season and scored 45 and 16 runs in the match. He failed to claim any wickets in the match.

• Sanjay’s performance improved match by match and he soon went on to become one of the best players of Railways’.

• During the 2000-01 season of the Ranji Trophy, his team (Railways) reached the finals but lost to Baroda. The following season, Railways went on to win the Ranji Trophy after defeating Baroda in the final.

• His performance at the domestic level, gained the attention of the selectors, who selected him in the Indian squad for their matches against England during England’s tour of India in 2001-02.

• In the Board President’s XI match against England, Sanjay showcased excellent bowling skills, claiming seven wickets, including a fifer in the second innings.

• He made his debut in the Test cricket at Mohali, along with two other debutants —Tinu Yohannan and Iqbal Siddiqui.

• Although he was picked up in the team for his bowling skills, Sanjay expressed his desire to open the innings to captain Sourav Ganguly. However, he went to bat at number 8, scoring 36 runs. Sanjay failed to pick any wicket in the match. India won the match by 10 wickets.

• In his second Test, he scored his maiden Test century, playing at no. 7. It was the same venue where he made his First-Class debut in 1993. India won the match by an inning.

• Bangar’s breakthrough moment came at Headingley during the third Test of the 2002 series between India and England. Opening the batting for India, Sanjay laid a strong foundation for the team by scoring 68 runs; he made a 170-run partnership for the second wicket with Rahul Dravid. In addition to good batting, Bangar also took two important wickets in the second innings, leading India to a historic win.

• In the same year, Sanjay performed well against West Indies, during West Indies’ tour to India. He scored two half-centuries.
  

  Sanjay Bangar playing a match against West Indies

• After his poor performance in two test matches against New Zealand, Sanjay was dropped from the Indian squad by the selectors.

• In his entire career, Sanjay played 12 Test matches; India won 10 of them (including two rare overseas victories in Port of Spain and Leeds) and lost two matches against New Zealand. Sanjay was considered a lucky mascot for the Indian Test team.

• In his One-Day International (ODI) career spanning 15 matches, he scored a total of 180 runs at an average of 13.47 and claimed seven wickets. He only scored one half-century in his ODI career.

• While playing against West Indies in one of the series, Sanjay played a key role in India’s three-wicket win by scoring a 32 (not out) in a low-scoring match.

• In 2003, he was a part of the Indian squad that represented India at the ODI World Cup. However, he didn’t get a chance to play a single match.

• In 2004, he became the captain of the Railways team and helped them win two major championships- the Ranji Trophy and the Irani Trophy.

• Under his leadership, Railways also won the Ranji Trophy One Day National Championship in 2005–06.

• Sanjay Bangar became the second player to score 6,000 runs and take 200 wickets in the Ranji Trophy; the first one being Vijay Hazare.

• In the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, Sanjay Bangar represented the Deccan Chargers.

• In the 2009, IPL season, Sanjay was signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he was later sent back to India from South Africa by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to manage their expenses in the country. Apparently, it created a rift in the KKR camp.

• In 2012, an article by Sanjay Bangar was featured in the book Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel.

• Bangar announced his retirement from First-Class cricket in January 2013.

• During his career spanning over 20 years, Bangar played 165 First-Class matches, scoring 8349 runs at an average of just above 33. He claimed 300 wickets in all.

• While he was a part of the Railways team, Railways won five championships in domestic cricket — two Ranji Trophies, two Irani Trophies, and one one-day title win.

• In 2014, he was appointed as the assistant coach of Kings XI Punjab. After a while, he was promoted to the position of head coach and guided the team to the final of the season, where they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders. He held the position of the coach of Kings XI Punjab for three years.
  

  Sanjay Bangar as the coach of Kings XI Punjab

• Previously, he had also coached India A and Kochi Tuskers.

• After a successful stint with Kings XI Punjab, Bangar was named the assistant coach of the Indian cricket team. Later, he was made the batting coach of the team.

• In 2016, Bangar was named the head coach of the India National Cricket team that toured Zimbabwe in June 2016.
  

  Sanjay Bangar with Team India after a win

• In July 2016, Anil Kumble was appointed as India’s head coach for one year. After Kumble’s tenure came to an end, Bangar was reappointed as the team’s batting coach.
  

  Sanjay Bangar with Indian Test team after their win against West Indies

• During his tenure as India’s batting coach, Indian batsmen created several records like scoring 50 centuries, winning 30 Test matches out of 52, and 82 ODIs out of 120.

• In February 2021, Sanjay was appointed as a Consultant for Royal Challengers Bangalore for the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League. The team secured third spot in the table and qualified for the Playoffs.

• On 9 November 2021, Bangar was appointed as the New Head Coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore for the 2022 Indian Premier League.
  

  Sanjay Bangar guiding the players during a practice match of Royal Challengers Bangalore

• Before IPL season 2023, Bangar was named Head of Cricket Development at Punjab Kings (previously, Kings XI Punjab)

• He was considered a floater in the Indian team as he got the ability to bat any position from opening the innings to playing at number 7.

• Although Bangar was good at bowling naturally, he never focused on it. He always wanted to play as a batsman and did too much hard work for it.

• Sanjay owns two farms- one in Mumbai and the other in Aurangabad.

• In November 2024, his son, Aryan, posted a reel on Instagram in which he revealed that he had undergone a gender transformation. Following the transformation Aryan changed his name to Anaya.
  

  Anaya Bangar before and after transformation