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[nahia]

CENTURION: An anguished Indian cricket coach Gary Kirsten on Friday sought to distance himself from a controversial dossier which encouraged cricketers to indulge in sexual activities, saying he had no role in drafting the document nor was it intended for team strategy.

Two days after the unusual document made headlines and left the cricketing world bemused, Kirsten said he was deeply hurt at the quotes attributed to him that he has been trying to encourage the players towards sexual activity in order to improve their performance.

Kirsten said the document was prepared by mental conditioning expert Paddy Upton and he read about it for the first time two days ago.

"My family and I have been deeply offended and hurt by the many allegations that I encouraged the Indian players to engage in sexual activity before a match," Kirsten read out a prepared statement at a press conference.

"I would like to state that I have never, and I repeat, never encouraged or told the team or any player to engage in any form of sexual activity. These allegations are absolutely not true and completely against my religious and moral beliefs," he said.

The former South African opener said Upton's report was just to provide information to the players and not to be used as a team strategy.

"The leaked article was compiled by Paddy Upton and provided information for the players on relationship between sexual activity and sports performance. I never wrote the article and read it for the first time two days ago. It has never been and never will be part of team strategy", Kirsten said.

"I have been deeply disturbed by these false allegations and wish to focus my attention on helping Team India have a successful Champions Trophy."

The Indian players had been handed out a four-part document which broadly envisaged an active sexual life and a disciplined food and sporting habits, aimed at helping the players on and off the field.

The document, the contents of which were quite unusual, looked back into India's history, its food habits and its lack of aggression.