Thekkumpadan Puthenveetil Padmanabhan Nair is the first Keralite who became the captain of the Indian Volleyball team. He was the only Indian player who bagged two medals in Asian Games. Besides this, he had also bagged three national awards.Nair made his international debut against Russia in 1954. It was Nair who lead the team which clinched the silver in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.He received Dhyan Chand Awards in 2015 for Volleyball.