Jharkhand Ranji player Aamir Hashmi turned out to be the costliest player in the bidding of cricketers for the Gaya Premier League (GPL) held on Sunday.

Aamir would play for Bhadeya Lions, one of the eight teams taking part in the tournament. He will be paid Rs 5,000 per game as match fee by the team owner.

More than 20 Ranji or state-level cricketers of Bihar and Jharkhand would play in the GPL beginning from November 14 at Harihar Subrahmanian stadium in Gandhi Maidan where the opening match will be played between Maurya Heights and VC Warriors.

All the cricketers playing for teams will be paid a minimum of Rs 500 and a maximum of Rs 5,000 as match fee per game. Only cricketers playing Ranji trophy matches are paid Rs 1.25 lakh per game, while those playing district-level league matches would not get any monetary benefit.

GPL organising secretary Akhilesh Singh told The Telegraph that the tournament would benefit promising young cricketers of Gaya in particular besides Bihar and Jharkhand in general. Not only will they gain experience by playing with senior state-level cricketers but get monetary benefit as well. Apart from match fee, the Man of the Series would be awarded Rs 5,000 and a trophy. The Man of the Match would win Rs 1,000 and a trophy.

“The winning team will get a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and the runners-up Rs 50,000 apart from the trophies. It will be mandatory to have eight cricketers of Gaya in each team of 14 members, while six will be necessary in the playing XI. Five cricketers from outside Gaya could be in the playing XI. To promote young cricketers, we have made it mandatory to include at least one player below 14 years in each team,” Akhilesh said.

“Gaya-based Young Boys Cricket Association (YBCA) would organise the tournament that is dedicated to Abhishek, an assistant commandant of Central Reserve Police Force of Gaya who was killed in a bomb explosion in Mount Abu during training,” said organising coordinator Prasanjeet Chakrabarty.

Chahat, Tabish, Mukhl and Rahul are some of the cricketers aged below 14 years, who have been selected. Tabish of Bhadeya Lions said: “I will learn from seniors on how to tackle the situation during matches when there is pressure of chasing a big target or to stop opponent defending a small total.”

Owner of Bhadeya Lions Umair Khan said: “Opportunities for cricketers were limited earlier. But now there are several versions of the game like Indian Premier League (IPL). Even if one cricketer of Gaya makes it to the IPL, it would be a great achievement for the city.” Ashraf Karim, owner of Rochester Basera, echoed similar views and appealed to people to make GPL a success.

Apart from Bhadeya Lions and Rochester Basera, Maurya Heights, VC Warriors, MSY Warriors, Maharani Heroes, Manpur Rajware and Gewal Bigha Janbaj are the other six teams.

Arun Vidyarthi – Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Ranchi team captain, Raju Pandey, selected to bowl to Indian team players during a session at the nets for a India-Sri Lanka One-Day International, Keshav Kumar, India Under-19 player, Rajesh Singh, a Bihar Under-19, Amit Singh from Jharkhand Under-19, Ratan Kumar, a Jharkhand Ranji player are the promising cricketers of Bihar and Jharkhand who would be the star attractions during the tournament. The teams have been divided in two groups of four. Each team would play three matches in the league round, followed by semi-finals between the four top teams of both the groups and then the final.