IndusInd Bank lost its place in the Nifty 50. Will Tottenham Hotspur lose its place in the Premier League too?

A tale of two near-misses: **IndusInd Bank and [Tottenham Hotspur Football Club](https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com)** separated by a continent, joined by the same arc.

On the last day of September 2025, NSE Indices quietly switched the lights off on IndusInd Bank’s Nifty 50 membership.

On the last day of May 2026, Tottenham Hotspur will walk out at home to Everton trying not to do the footballing equivalent.

The bank’s six-month average free-float market cap had fallen below the index’s cut-off; the football club’s wage-to-revenue ratio used to be a similar metric until the team itself stopped being top-half.

Both institutions, in their respective universes, were once obvious top-tier names. Both got there through long, methodical, well-managed rises. And both have spent the last six years dismantling that work, one bad decision at a time.

The rise looked the same

In February 2008, a Hinduja-controlled bank with sub-scale ambitions handed the keys to Romesh Sobti, a veteran banker from ABN AMRO.

In May 2014, an ENIC-controlled football club with sub-scale ambitions handed the keys to Mauricio Pochettino, a high-press idealist from Southampton.

Both men were given long, secure mandates. Both ran their organisations in disciplined three-year “planning cycles” Sobti literally called them that. Both turned out talent: Sobti scaled IndusInd’s vehicle finance and corporate book into one of the most expensive private banks on the NSE, with sub-1% net NPAs and ~4% NIMs; Pochettino built a homegrown core around Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Heung-min Son, finishing in the top four for four consecutive seasons: the first time in the club’s history. IndusInd joined the Nifty 50 in April 2013. Tottenham opened a £1bn stadium in April 2019. Both anointments arrived in the same window.

The peak was almost the same week

IndusInd’s stock printed a high of roughly over ₹1800 in April 1, 2019. Tottenham played a Champions League final in Madrid exactly two months later, on June 1, 2019.

Both moments were celebrated as proof of arrival. Neither survived the look-back. In both cases the cracks were already inside the building.

At IndusInd, Q4 FY19 numbers (released six weeks after the price peak) revealed heavy provisioning against an IL&FS exposure that had been quietly accumulating.

At Spurs, Pochettino had not been allowed to make a single signing in the 2018 summer or January 2019 windows. The team that reached the Madrid final was an aging one, held together by goodwill; the bank that printed the all-time high was a balance sheet with a substandard asset cooking inside it.

The collapse looked the same too

Both institutions started by losing the founding executive. Sobti retired in March 2020; Pochettino was sacked in November 2019. Both replacements went badly.

IndusInd’s Sumant Kathpalia inherited a stock that fell ~87% to ₹235 in the COVID crash, presided over the 2021 Bharat Financial whistleblower allegations, and was then publicly rebuked by the RBI with a two-year reappointment in 2023 (vs three sought) and a one-year extension in 2025.

Spurs went José Mourinho, Ryan Mason, Nuno Espírito Santo, Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini, Mason again, Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor, Roberto De Zerbi — ten different men in the dugout in just over six years. Both organisations leaked their senior players. Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Dele Alli, Kyle Walker and ultimately Harry Kane all walked out of N17.

At IndusInd, the equivalent quiet outflow was institutional confidence: promoter capital infusions in 2020 and 2021 didn’t fix the cultural problems, and the same microfinance moat that had been the rerating story in 2017 became the de-rating story in 2021 and 2025.

Then came the disclosure

On March 10, 2025, IndusInd told the exchanges that its forex derivatives portfolio had “discrepancies” worth roughly 2.35% of net worth. The stock fell 27% the next day, its worst day ever. Within seven weeks, the CFO, Deputy CEO and CEO had all resigned; PwC had quantified a ₹1,979 crore net-worth hit; Grant Thornton had quantified a ₹1,960 crore P&L hit; the bank had booked its first-ever annual loss; and SEBI had banned five executives, including former CEO Kathpalia, from the securities market over insider trading. On August 22, 2025, NSE Indices announced IndusInd was out of the Nifty 50 effective September 30. Passive funds dumped roughly $217 million of stock on the way out.

At Tottenham, the equivalent disclosures came on the scoreboard. Ange Postecoglou’s 2024–25 side won the Europa League in Bilbao on May 21, 2025, the club’s first major trophy in 17 years and finished 17th in the league, with 22 defeats, their worst top-flight finish in 48 years. He was sacked sixteen days after lifting the cup. Thomas Frank came in. Daniel Levy resigned on September 4, 2025 after 24 years. Frank was sacked in February. Tudor lasted 44 days. De Zerbi took over on March 31, 2026, by which point Spurs were 18th, in the relegation zone for the first time since January 2009. They’ve clawed back to 17th going into the final day, but only with a two-point cushion over West Ham.

So will they go down on Sunday?

A draw with Everton keeps them up. But if Spurs lose and West Ham win, they go down to the Championship and might have to exit the league.

Spurs’ Joe Lewis pleaded guilty to insider trading in January 2024; IndusInd’s executives are facing insider-trading proceedings now. Spurs lost their executive chairman this season; IndusInd lost theirs (functionally) when Kathpalia walked. The parallels keep stacking up.

What both stories really argue?

Prestige indexes whether the Nifty 50 or the Premier League are not entry tickets, they’re tenancies. They reward the institutions that can sustain a culture of competence longer than the cycle they ride in on.

IndusInd’s tenancy was up in September 2025. Tottenham’s may yet be renewed for another season, but the lease has expired. The eviction notice is in the post.

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