It says a lot about the spirit of the Ranji Trophy when defending champions Mumbai say their aim for the next game is getting the first-innings lead.

Andhra Pradesh , their opponents in the third-round Elite Division Group 'A' league match, aim no different.

"We will look to get the first innings lead first and they go for a win," said Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit, after a practice session at the Wankhede stadium on the eve of the match, on Wednesday.

"Ideally we should be looking to win every match from here, but going one up in the first innings will be crucial.

"Lots of teams nowadays, looking at the opposition, go in with a plan of ensuring a first-innings lead. That's because they also have to defend themselves."

Talking about the previous match, which ended in a draw and Madhya Pradesh picked two points from the first innings lead, Pandit said, "The MP batsmen, except for [Devendra] Bundela, never tried too much but they were successful in getting two points."

Doing well in the first-innings has become the easiest route to self-preservation in India's crowded premier domestic tournament. Because 27 teams participate in the Ranji Trophy, there is much clutter and teams are able to sustain themselves by weaving out such defensive methods.

Andhra Pradesh captain MSK Prasad though blamed it on the quality of the wickets being offered for the matches.

"The wickets don't assist the bowlers," he said, "The last time when we played in Mumbai [in 2002-03] the pitch was a lot grassier than this one. That was definitely a result-oriented wicket."

Madhya Pradesh's tactics in the last game must not have impressed Mumbai, but the trophy holders didn't do much either. With Sairaj Bahutule and Ramesh Powar out in Jaipur playing for the Board President's XI against the South Africans, their bowling lacked experience and the batting wasn't deep enough.

Pandit said the result sent a "huge wake-up call" for his players.

"Sairaj was definitely missed in the last game, not only for his bowling and batting, but his mere presence on the field is very important to the side.

"Bowlers Wilkin Mota and Santosh Shinde were playing their first Ranji match. They have done well for their clubs and handled similar situations. So they were not new to the game. Their inexperience wasn't an excuse for not putting pressure on the MP batsmen," added Pandit.

After two rounds in the championship, Mumbai and Andhra have two points like four other teams in Group 'A' of the Elite Division.

Y Venugopal Rao, India's emerging batting talent, returns to the Andhra side after missing the game against Delhi, since he also figured in the Board President's XI match against the South Africans.

Rao scored 140 in Andhra's opening encounter against Madhya Pradesh and helped the side pluck two points on first innings lead.

"He is obviously our best batsman. Our batting has been strengthened by his arrival, and I think the whole team is looking forward for a good performance from him," Prasad said.

The Andhra captain admitted that bowling, especially in the game against Delhi, was the weak link of the side.

"We have to stick to the basics here and make the batsmen play a lot more," he said, adding that given the conditions on the day before the match the team is likely to go in with three spinners and just one medium-pacer.

Prasad denied that the wicket presented for the Test in Mumbai is weighing on their mind, but said his team had done tried everything, "playing on bad wickets, scratching the surface to make it more difficult to play", back home to prepare for the match.

It is not the pitch, but the curator at the Wankhede, M S Rao, who has attracted the wrath of the Mumbai coach.

"I have been trying to talk to him for three days but he hasn't been seen," said Pandit. "I want to know what he's planning for the game. I don't know what Prasad thinks, but it is very difficult to predict the wicket."

Even if Rao does provide a tip or two on the wicket, Padit has to first find answers to the inconsistency at the top of his batting order.

"I am unable to answer that question too. We are thinking a lot about why the top order hasn't made as many runs. All the batsmen are capable of scoring the runs; it's just a matter of getting the confidence. We have to apply our minds more," said Pandit.

For Mumbai, Vinayak Mane will walk into the side after being out of the last match due to malaria. Vinod Kambli, who did not attend the practice session on Tuesday due to stiffness, will be back to his batting spot after shouldering captaincy against MP.

Like Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai are also likely to play three spinners – Nilesh Kulkarni, Bahutule and Ramesh Powar -- and two specialist seamers in Ajit Agarkar and either Shine, Mota or Usman Malvi.