Glenn Phillips credits IPL stint with Gujarat Titans for success against India in T20I series

Auckland, Oct 30 (PTI) After producing match-winning 107 against India in the fourth T20I here, New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips credited his learnings from the IPL for his consistent outings in the ongoing five-match series.

    Phillips is the leading run-getter so far in the series with 276 runs from four matches at an average of 92, including a hundred and two fifties.

    His third T20I hundred helped New Zealand pull one back after suffering three successive defeats in the series. The Kiwis won the Auckland T20I by 87 runs.

    “The IPL is a certain beast of its own and the balance of teams being one of eight overseas (players) with only four spots (in the eleven) make it quite tough. So, if you don't go out there and set the world on fire there's always another person waiting in line,” Phillips said in the post-match press conference.

    The Kiwi did not have a great run in IPL 2026 for Gujarat Titans, appearing in only six matches and he could only make 67 runs with a 25 being his highest score.

    But Phillips found more value in the time he spent in the IPL than in those feeble numbers.

    “At Gujarat, I was very lucky to have some unbelievable facilities, some great coaches and plenty of time to work (on his batting). I also showed in England as well being able to have volume (of runs) under the belt — whether it's red ball or white ball.

    “Yes, you'd love to score runs in the IPL and you know make a load of cash and that would be fantastic but also there's a lot of learnings that you can take from that place (in the IPL) whether you're playing or not and I think that is also on each individual that is at the IPL or at any other tournament to be able to make the most out of where they go,” he added.

    The 29-year-old had a productive outing in the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy earlier this year, scoring 181 runs across four innings at an average of 60, including a hundred.

    New Zealand beat England 2-1 in that series, signalling the end of the Brendon McCullum initiated Bazball era.

    Phillips did not field in India’s innings, and the right-hander said it was a precautionary measure after cramps.

    “I think it's just a little bit of stiffness that I felt early on in the innings. But it felt a lot better as we ran through the game and I think it was more precautionary rather to stay on top of it and avoid the risk of getting injured this early on in the season,” he added.

    Phillips said New Zealand was aware of the need to have a cushion of extra runs against a strong Indian batting line-up.

    “Yeah it was a lot of fun also being at the other end while (Michael) Bracewell was going bananas. Obviously, crazy things happen at Eden Park all the time and it was a fantastic pitch and, obviously, you need a tonne of runs to even have a sniff of beating India.

    “So, it’s for us to be able to put that sort of score on the board today and I guess it'll give us confidence going forward that we can get a score of that size and it’s our first time being up in that 250 range,” he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)