“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” appears to be a philosophy well embraced by public sector lender Indian Bank, which has steadily built a strong sporting culture alongside its banking operations.
While mobilising deposits and extending advances remain its core business, the Chennai-headquartered bank has also carved a niche for itself in Indian corporate sports by recruiting leading athletes, supporting sports infrastructure and fielding highly competitive teams across basketball, volleyball, hockey, cricket, shooting and chess.
International participation
The efforts are reflected in the growing number of international, national and State-level honours secured by Indian Bank sportspersons, with the Bank today regarded as one of the country’s most successful corporate sporting institutions, particularly in basketball.
Besides the Bank has been supporting sports infrastructure development initiatives.
Indian Bank basketball players H. Muinbek, P. Baladhaneswar, Pranav Prince and Prashant Singh Rawat represented the senior Indian camp, while Muinbek and Pranav Prince featured for the Indian team in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, window-3, 2025-26. Pranav Prince also represented India in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2025-26, according to the latest annual report.
Basketball achievements
MD & CEO Binod Kumar congratulated Muin Bek for receiving the Tamil Nadu State Sports Award as Player of the Year in basketball.
The Bank’s basketball team emerged winners in the 1st All India Jodhpur Challenge Cup Basketball Tournament in Rajasthan, the 59th All India Basketball Tournament for PSG Trophy and the 58th All India Basketball Tournament for Nachimuthu Gounder Trophy at Coimbatore. Pranav Prince and H. Muinbek were adjudged the most valuable players in the tournaments.
Indian Bank also clinched the 21st State Level Basketball Tournament for Men 2025, Dr Gopalakrishnan Memorial Trophy, besides winning the 19th Indian Bank Rising Star State Level Basketball Tournament held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Corporation Grounds, T Nagar, Chennai.
Shooting and chess
In para shooting, Indian Bank athlete Pooja Agarwal won three gold medals in 24th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship, winning across 25m sports pistol mixed, 10m air pistol women, and 10m standard air pistol mixed categories.
The team secured a bronze medal in the women’s 10m Air Pistol category at the 68th National Shooting Championship Competition organised by NRAI in 2025.
The Bank also bagged a team bronze medal in the women’s 10m Air Pistol category at the 6th National Para Shooting Championship.
Chess player Rajasurya emerged winner in the Open category of the Below-1800 FIDE Rated International Open Chess Tournament and also secured first place in the Warrior Chess Academy FIDE Rated Open Chess Tournament.
Volleyball and hockey
L M Manoj was honoured with the prestigious Ekalavya Award by the Karnataka Government for his achievements, including winning a gold medal at the SAF Games and representing India at the 2023 Asian Games in volleyball.
Indian Bank’s volleyball teams emerged winners in several State-level tournaments held at Dharmapuri, Madurai, Keeramangalam and Kanyakumari district. The Bank’s hockey team secured first place in the Thiruvallur Premier League 3.0 after defeating IOB in the finals held in Chennai.
The Bank has also extended support to Loyola College for development of a basketball court to facilitate better training infrastructure, extended practice hours and hosting of major tournaments.
The Indian Bank Recreational Club (based in Chennai) competes in the competitive divisions of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association league system.