St.John's (Antigua), Jan 27: Four West Indies cricketers including the recently retired Shivnarine Chanderpaul have been given permission to play in the inaugural Masters Champions League (MCL) T20 scheduled to start on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

All four players have written to the WICB indicating that they have retired.

The MCL is an approved tournament of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for players who have retired from international cricket.

However the players are still eligible to compete for their respective franchises in their member countries, regional tournaments and other worldwide leagues.

The exception is Barbadian Edwards, who is a Kolpak player, having opted to play for Hampshire in the United Kingdom, after giving up his right to play for his member country.

The West Indies batting legend Brian Lara, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis and Andrew Symonds are also among stars to feature in the MCL.

The MCL, which will feature six franchises, is set to run from Thursday, January 28 to Saturday, February 13 in the United Arab Emirates.

MCL T20 will showcase 18 matches including the semi-final and the final at the Dubai International Stadium.

IANS