An elephant walks into the Oval and attaches itself to history

Many years I was asked at a quiz: What is the name of the elephant who came to the Oval as India were winning a Test and series in England for the first time? This was not an animal who wandered into

Many years I was asked at a quiz: What is the name of the elephant who came to the Oval as India were winning a Test and series in England for the first time? This was not an animal who wandered into a cricket ground to see how his countrymen were doing, but one that had been borrowed from the nearby Chessington Zoo by Indian fans celebrating the Ganesha festival. “Bella,” I said, and earned points for my team. Fifty years ago — for that is when this happened — you could bring an elephant into a ground where an international match was taking place. Bella, who had been originally bought from a pet store in Birmingham, died in 1990, but did not rate a mention in the obituary section of Wisden, unlike Peter the cat at Lord’s (“whose ninth life ended in November 1964…”). But she will be remembered as the most unexpected spectator at India’s triumph. And somehow will be connected to the event through history. The late Ajit Wadekar, India’s captain then, has spoken about how manager Hemu Adhikari saw the appearance of the elephant as a good omen on an auspicious day. Wadekar was fond of recalling how he went out to bat on his overnight score of 45 and was run out first ball. So much for luck and omens. But he did believe that Lord Ganesha had appeared that morning.