Patna, March 16 (PTI): Hundreds of young cricketers led by former India U-19 skipper Amikar Dayal today sat on a dharna here to protest against the Bihar government?s decision to make the state cricket academy move out of Moin-ul-Haque Stadium.

?We are protesting against the arbitrary decision of the sports secretary, S.K. Singh, asking us to vacate the stadium premises in two days? time or be physically removed by the police,? Dayal, chairperson of the Cricket Academy of Bihar, told reporters.

Former India wicketkeeper Syed Saba Karim is the director of the academy, which has been running for the past three years.

Dayal said the academy was allotted space by the government at the stadium three years ago to run a permanent coaching camp for budding cricketers.

Singh said since the academy is an unrecognised private body, which is not affiliated to a recognised cricket institution, the government decided not to renew the agreement.

?The three years? agreement between the academy and the government has expired. The sports department has taken a decision not to allow any private and unrecognised body to run its activities on the stadium campus,? he added.

On the claim of the academy?s officials that the department had earlier granted them permission to carry out its operations, Singh said, ?Even the procedure adopted for allowing the academy to function at that time was improper.?