5 Indian cricketers who improved the most during the home season

The long home season for the Indian cricket team came to an end on Tuesday with the hosts winning the series against Australia 2-1. The season saw several Indian players elevate their game and perform and here we look at five players who raised their games and became better cricketers during the course of the season:

5. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The Indian seamer might not have played every match of the season but in whatever games that he played in, he performed his role to perfection.In the Kolkata Test, he picked up a five-wicket haul to help India take a 2-0 lead.

He played just the solitary Test against England as well as the one-off Test against Bangladesh, creating minimal impact in both the games. He was brought in for the final Test of the series against Australia at Dharamshala and showed little rust despite the long lay-off, claiming two wickets in the game, but most importantly removing the run-machine Steve Smith in the second innings for a low score.

While the stats for Bhuvneshwar may not be too great, whenever he got the opportunity, he bowled at good speeds, swung the ball and looked threatening.

The cricketer has endured a tough time in the past few years and hopefully, 2017 will turn his fortunes, further for the good.

4.Wriddhiman Saha

The wicket-keeper batsman came of age during the course of the home season, making vital contributions at important moments.

In the Kolkata Test against New Zealand, he made twin fifties to help India post sizeable totals in both innings that eventually helped them win the game.

After a lull in the series against England, he returned to the fore with a century against Bangladesh in the one-off Test.

Then, in the series against Australia, he played the ideal foil to Cheteshwar Pujara in the Ranchi Test as the duo put on a huge stand for the seventh wicket to help their side take the lead in the game.

The Bengal cricketer improved with regards to keeping as well with every passing series and unless he suffers another injury, will in all probability be India's Number 1 gloveman for the next few years.

3.KL Rahul

The Indian right-handed opener might not have the best of starts to the season, missing large parts of the series against New Zealand and not contributing in the initial stages of the England series, but surely raised his game in the latter stages.

He began with a 199 against England in Chennai and then in the series against Australia, slammed six fifties in seven matches to help lay the foundation at the top of the order.

Rahul, who made his debut at the end of 2014, has become a key part of the top order and he will hope to carry this form into the remainder of the year as well.

2.Umesh Yadav

India's best fast bowler of the season. Yadav really grew leaps and bounds as a bowler during this season, bowling with pace, discipline and hostility.

Yadav claimed 30 wickets during the entire home season and enjoyed a particularly good time in the one-off Test against Bangladesh, a spell which Shakib-Al-Hasan described as the best he had faced in his career.

In the series against Australia, he further grew in confidence, troubling all the batsmen with his pace and bounce and impressing one-and-all with his exploits with the ball.

The next aim would be for him to develop a similar kind of rhythm in coloured clothing as well.

1.Ravindra Jadeja

The player who impressed everyone, especially in the later stages of the season.

While Ashwin was dominating the scene at the start, Jadeja came into his own in the second half of the season, especially from the second innings of the Chennai Test, where he took seven wickets to help India win the game on the final day.

Then, in the series against Australia, the Saurashtra cricketer produced one of the best performances of his career, scoring 127 runs with the bat and taking 25 wickets with the ball to finish as the leading wicket-taker of the series.

His performances even encouraged some ardent Indian fans to pick him ahead of Ashwin as the Number 1 spinner overseas.

Hopefully, he can replicate a similar performance in coloured clothing as well when he travels to England for the Champions Trophy.