Glenn Phillips Gets In A Fight After GT's Loss To RCB

Glenn Phillips during RCB vs GT press conference [Source: CricketCentrl/X.com]

The IPL 2026 playoffs kicked off on Tuesday night at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru convincingly thrashed the Gujarat Titans by 92 runs.

After being put into bat, the defending champions proved to be a handful as they put on a record total of 254/6 in 20 overs. Titans' formidable bowling line-up had no answers to the drubbing in the first innings, and its after-effects were evident in the chase, with the batting lineup crumbling under pressure.

The media went on to raise serious questions about the team’s temperament, but New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips took offence and vented his frustration openly.

Glenn Phillips loses his cool on a bizarre question

At the end of the match in Dharamsala, GT sent the Kiwi star for the post-match press conference, where he addressed the media instead of the captain, coach or someone from the playing XI.

Despite last featuring in the playing XI on April 20 against MI, Phillips has been actively involved with the playing group, coming on as a substitute fielder, as he did against RCB as well.

While speaking at the presser, a reporter asked Phillips whether the team had already given up on the match even before the run chase began after seeing the score. Such a big total had never been chased in the history of IPL knockouts. Phillips felt this was a silly thing to ask a professional athlete and hit back at the journalist.

“That's a silly question. That is a really silly question. No one goes in there waiting to go, 'Oh, you know what? We're just going to give up on this one.' Why would we do that as professional cricketers? That's a terrible question," Glenn Phillips criticised the reporter.

"We went out there, we gave it everything. Unfortunately, when you're trying to chase 250, everything has to go right,” Phillips added.

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Glenn Phillips reveals the reason behind a failed chase vs RCB

Further in the press conference, Phillips spoke about the challenges a batting line-up faces when every dot ball increases the required rate significantly in such chases. Every mistake is magnified when you have to score 250, and a lot of things have to go your way.

“We went out there, we gave it everything. Unfortunately, when you are trying to chase 250, everything has to go right, and we went out there to try and make everything go right. Obviously, it didn’t,” Glenn Phillips concluded.

In pursuit of the record run-chase, GT had found themselves in an uncharted territory, where all top-order batters fell for under 30 runs each. 

Subsequently, Rahul Tewatia, who was the impact substitute, fought a lost battle and top-scored for them with 68 off 43 — only two others in Jos Buttler (29) and Sai Sudharsan (14) crossed the double figures. GT were bowled out for 162 with 3 balls left in the chase.

Forgettable IPL 2026 for Glenn Phillips

Having waited for an IPL match since IPL 2023, Phillips finally got a chance to make his GT debut at the start of IPL 2026 as a first-choice starter. However, things did not go as planned for him in the first half of the season, as he only managed 67 runs in 5 innings at a strike rate of 124.97.

He was soon replaced by Jason Holder, who impacted matches with the ball, but even the West Indian failed to do anything substantial with the bat. 

Phillips’ and Holder’s form with the bat has proven to be detrimental for GT’s campaign, considering they are a top-heavy team and called for some experience in the middle-order as well.

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