MUMBAI — New Zealand’s batsmen know they will have to subdue India’s spinners if they are to have any chance of winning their three-match One Day International series starting Sunday.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and right-arm leg break Yuzvendra Chahal have established themselves as India’s latest attacking combination, keeping veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja out of the team.

Kiwi batsman Tom Latham said the visitors were leaving no stone unturned in seeking a way to counter the Indian pair, who come into the series in the best form of their careers.

“Our focus is big on spin here. We are focusing on facing more spin than seam here and finding ways to score, to hit gaps and find boundaries,” Latham told reporters in Mumbai.

The left-handed Latham said the Kane Williamson-led New Zealanders had taken note of Kuldeep and Chahal’s recent performances.

Kuldeep, 22, has quickly emerged as one of the world’s best slow bowlers since taking four wickets in his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala in March.

He also played a big role in India’s recent 4-1 ODI series victory over Australia, taking a hat trick in the second match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

He has been well supported by the 27-year-old Chahal, who tormented the Australians with his deceptive leg spinners to bag six wickets in four matches.

“We obviously know that they (Kuldeep and Chahal) are quality bowlers and they have done really well in the previous series,” Latham was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

Latham has been in good form himself, compiling a quickfire 108 in New Zealand’s 33-run win over an Indian Board President’s XI in the visitors’ second and final warm-up match in Mumbai.

New Zealand, ranked fifth in the world, has drafted in leg-spinner Ish Sodhi as a replacement for Todd Astle, who has been ruled out of Sunday’s match at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium after picking up a groin injury in the warm-up game.

The hosts, second in the ODI rankings, are expected to complement the two spinners with fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Williamson urged his teammates to avenge last year’s narrow ODI series defeat to India by putting in the performance of their lives this time around.

The Kiwis and their hosts were locked at 2-2 going into the decisive match of their 2016 ODI rubber only for India to cruise to victory by 190 runs.

“In our last series here we were two-all going into the decider. And it was a shame in that last game. So it would be nice to come out this series and do a little bit better,” said Williamson.

Williamson said Martin Guptill and Colin Munro would open the batting Sunday with Latham coming in lower down the order.

Kohli hailed India’s rotation policy for helping unearth his side’s potent new spin attack of Yadav and Chahal.

The batsman said giving younger and more inexperienced players a go was crucial as India try to build the strongest squad possible for the 2019 World Cup.

“We are giving chances to guys who we think have the ability to perform at this level,” Kohli said.

“It is something we need to experiment with, to find our best bowling combination before we can reach the World Cup stage,” he added.

The second ODI takes place in Pune Wednesday, with the third in Kanpur on Oct. 29. The two sides will then play three T20 matches. — Agencies