Kaif and Yuvraj withdrawn from charity match

India's one-day batsmen Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh have been refused permission to play in a charity match in memory of England's Ben Hollioake, who died in a car crash in Australia in March last year.

Kaif and Yuvraj, who are currently playing county cricket during India's off-season, had been invited by the Ben Hollioake Memorial Trust to join a clutch of Pakistani players in an Asia v Rest of the World match, to be played at Arundel on August 9. The Indian cricket board, however, was not keen on the idea.

"Kaif and Yuvraj were invited to play but we asked them not to participate because we normally don't encourage these types of games," said an official from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "There are several benefit matches for Indian players pending and so it's not logical for them to be playing away from their country in a charity game."

The Indian government is currently embroiled in a row with Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir, and this ruling has inevitably prompted speculation that Kaif and Yuvraj's withdrawal is politically motivated.