Negotiations for player sign-ups have set the mood for the Gaya Premier League 2 (GPL-2) Limited Over Cricket Tournament to be played at Harihar Subramanian stadium between November 20 and 29.

Several Ranji and state-level players would play for the eight teams - GPL-1 champions MSY Heroes, runners-up Maharani Heroes, Rochester Basera, Bhadeya Lions, Gaya Knight Riders and the Young Boys besides first-timers Dumaria Dangers and Gewalbigha Panthers.

At a news meet organised on Sunday, tournament organising committee secretary Akhilesh Singh said: "Entries have started pouring in for the tournament."

Tournament organising committee president Ashok Kumar Singh said: "Some Gaya-based cricketers, who have proved their talent, are Mohit, Mangal Mehraur, Nikku Singh, Raju Pandey, Saif, Singheshwar Singh, Ibrar Shamim, Chhotu, Zahid and Subhash. Mohit has played a triangular series at London in September this year, Subhash is the Bihar Under-16 captain and Mangal is a Bihar state-level player."

Owners are approaching cricketers from outside the state like Ajay Yadav, Arun Vidyarthi, India Under-19 captain Monu Singh, Ajatshatru (Jharkhand), Deepak Virat, Subrato Ghosh and others. Among these, Ajay, Arun and Deepak have played GPL-1. Deepak was the Man of the Series last year. "In GPL-1, cricketers from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Delhi had played for different teams. This year, cricketers from Odisha and Chhattisgarh are also likely to be playing for the teams," Ashok said.

Amid team owners present at the news meet, Bhadeya Lions owner Omair Khan said: "My team will have at least seven Ranji or at least, state-level players. Local talents will also be included. Last year, my team had played the semi-final but our target would be to win the tournament this time."

Elaborating on the rules, Akhilesh said: "It would be mandatory for all the teams to include at least three cricketers of Gaya in the playing XI. Other eight players can be from outside. Each player would get match fee according to his stature. The winning team would get Rs 1 lakh cash prize and the runners-up Rs 50,000 apart from the trophies."