One Indian cricket team has withdrawn cheerleaders from matches while others are being told to cover up, after protests that their dances and skimpy outfits were offensive to conservative Indians.

Cheerleaders, many imported from abroad, were hired to liven up India’s new $900 million domestic cricket league in which eight teams play a shortened version of the traditional game.

But while drum players, blaring music and the presence of Bollywood stars cheering among spectators may have livened up stadiums, cheerleaders may be one spectacle too far.