Patna, May 29: Dhoni’s daredevils in Chennai Super Kings yesterday lifted the Indian Premier League IV trophy. But the entertainment is not over for the season. For cricketers and cricket aficionados of the state, more fun is just round the corner.

Come October, the state will get its own T20 tournament — Bihar Premier League (BPL). Neighbours Jharkhand and Orissa already have their own premier leagues.

Bihar Vikas Trust (BVT), a voluntary body, will organise the tournament.

The BPL trophy was unveiled after a friendly cricket match between BVT and Media XI this morning at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium.

Kamlesh Sharma, president, BVT, said: “The idea behind organising the three-month-long tournament is to provide a platform to budding cricketers, who do not get an opportunity to showcase their skills despite being talented.”

Forty teams from 38 districts would take part in the tournament. Members of BVT would conduct selection camps all over the state and players from remote districts, too, would get a chance to showcase their talents.

Sharma said: “The selection camp will start after July. The jury will consist of cricketers from Bihar, who have made a mark on the national- as well as the international-level.

“We have even requested Saba Karim to be the part of selection process,” added the official.

The panel of judges will select 25 players from each district. The emphasis would be on talent. Players from both the urban as well as rural areas would be selected.

The teams will play 167 matches between October and December. The venue for the matches will be Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Chhapra and other towns of the state.

Sharma said though the preparation for the tournament is under way, various agencies have been approached for funding.

“The winning team will be awarded Rs 2.5 lakh with the trophy. The runners-up will get Rs 1.25 lakh. The Man of the Match in the final will get a TVS motorbike, while the Man of the Tournament will be awarded a Pulsar motorbike,” Sharma said.

In the friendly match organised today to unveil the trophy, Media XI beat BVT by 11 runs.

Media XI chose to bat first after winning the toss. They, however, lost all their wickets in 18.5 overs scoring 114.

Arun and Abhishek opened the batting for Media XI. They batted patiently but the partnership did not last long.

Arun got out in the third over scoring six runs.

Alok Chaturvedi, the first-down batsman, came to the side’s rescue. He scored a steady 39 hitting six fours before running out of partners at the other end of the pitch.

The only support he got was from Abhishek, who scored 19 runs with the help of three fours.

For BVT, Satyendra was the most successful bowler. He took three wickets for 21 runs in his stipulated four overs.

Chasing the competitive total, BVT batsmen batted with flamboyance and hit a few good shots. But they were not able to steady the ship, as wickets kept tumbling.

All of them had returned to the pavilion for 103, with one over of their stipulated 20 still to go.

Media XI bowler Rajesh Kumar bowled a good line and length and was rewarded with four wickets. He gave away 25 runs.

Chaturvedi was adjudged the Man of the Match.