Bhubaneswar, Nov. 10: Orissa skipper Haldhar Das has lost his captaincy and place in the state Ranji team to Bacchus. The team management suspended the swashbuckling batsman and stumper last night after he was found drunk in his hotel room in Mohali where Orissa are currently playing against Punjab.

This is the first instance of a state cricketer being dropped and discredited in this manner. “Indiscipline will not be tolerated, however big or important the person may be,” said Ranjib Biswal, president of Orissa Cricket Association (OCA).

Apart from being found drunk following a binge at a Mohali hotel, the 25-year-old swashbuckling batsman and stumper was also alleged to have breached team discipline by using his mobile phone. Sources said that players are supposed to hand over their mobile phone sets to the team management during the matches.

“Das skipped the team meeting last night. He went out with three junior players and had liquor. Later in the night, he was found dead drunk in his room,” said OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera. However, the juniors, who accompanied Das, did not share drinks with him and, hence, have been spared, added Behera.

Haldhar, who was the first player from Orissa to have been selected for the Indian Premier League as part of the Deccan Chargers team in 2008, was immediately stripped off his captaincy and replaced with Natraj Behera, who scored a double century against Saurashtra in the season opener at Barabati last week.

Sources close to Das’s family admitted that the cricketer had disgraced himself by getting drunk and violating the team discipline. “It’s shocking but true,” said a family friend, who did not want to be quoted.

The incident threatens to cut short a promising career which began in 2006 with Das’ Ranji debut against Services. Das, who has scored two first class centuries and was the state’s No. 1 stumper, has now been replaced for the match against Punjab by Subhrajit Sahoo, who led Balasore Baghas in the inaugural Orissa Premier League.

Though Das is the only cricketer from the state to have disgraced himself in this manner, controversies are not alien to Orissa cricketers.

Former state Ranji captain Pravanjan Mallick landed in police custody this February for allegedly assaulting his estranged wife Cini Mohanty, who had lodged a police complaint alleging dowry torture. Though Mallick played the Orissa Premier League in May, he failed to find a place in the state Ranji team.

Sources said the Mohali controversy had had a demoralising impact on the team which is yet to recover from the shocking exit of former Australian cricketer Michael Bevan as its coach. Bevan decided to end his contract with OCA because of personal reasons.