What could go wrong when an Indian businessman decides to fly the Washington Redskins’ cheerleaders to Bombay to cheer at a cricket tournament?

For a brief moment all was good. They whirled and bounced and cheered. Miniskirts flared and pompoms shook as cricket players batted balls out of the park. But it was all too much for the other India — a deeply conservative country where public displays of sexuality are taboo and women are expected to dress modestly. The backlash began in Mumbai last week when lawmakers from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party pressed to get cheerleaders banned from the home games of the local team, the Mumbai Indians. “See the pictures of these girls in the newspapers? This is not something you can allow inside your house, or something that you can look at in the presence of your sister or daughter,” said Nitin Gadkari, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s president for the state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is its capital. “It may be a good thing for America, for the U.S.A., it’s not a good thing for India, for our kind of culture,” Gadkari said. Police vowed to keep scantily clad dancers out of public view. “We will take action,” said Mumbai police officer Ramrao Wagh. “The government has said it will not allow obscenities on the field.” He did not elaborate. In the end a compromise of sorts was reached. The away team cheerleaders still wore their tartan miniskirts — but they donned black full-body stockings underneath. The Mumbai dancers wore flowing, ankle-length blue pants.