NEW DELHI: As the T20 World Cup in India approaches, explosive New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips is confident that his increasingly versatile left-handed batting could be a glimpse into the future, particularly as a potent weapon against left-arm spin.

Known for his inventive style, Phillips turned heads during a New Zealand Super Smash clash last Tuesday against Central Districts, smashing an unbeaten 90 for Otago.

What left spectators and opponents stunned wasn't just the score, but the way he attacked left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox. Batting left-handed, Phillips pulled off a towering six over extra cover - a shot that, had he been in his usual right-handed stance, would likely have sailed over midwicket instead.

"I do enjoy my left-handed batting training," Phillips was quoted saying in ESPNCricinfo.

"Obviously, I do it for multiple reasons. One, just to keep both hands and both sides of the brain working, but also just for the opportunity to, I guess, take down left-arm spin at some stage."

In today's game, a ball that spins away from the batter is often seen as a key advantage, which is why teams frequently favour left-arm orthodox spinners, given the dominance of right-handed batters.

Speaking to New Zealand Cricket about his approach, Phillips revealed that his innovative left-handed batting against spin has been "a couple of years" in the making.

"It's more of a future thing," he said.

"But for the opportunity to come in a game where there's going to be a lot of left-arm off-spin bowling, I guess it sort of made sense to give it a go and bring it back to the forefront of the training leading into that game. And the fact that the opportunity came during the game to use it was quite good."

Phillips admitted that several factors need to align before he fully unleashes his inner left-hander in competitive cricket.

"It's just trusting the training and understanding that I've just got to watch the ball as much as possible and I guess know that I've done the work and I've done the preparation and so there's no reason it shouldn't work," he said.

"But also, I guess, I generally have used it in the situation where there's nothing left to lose. There's a couple overs left and it's now time for a bit of fun, I guess, really."

New Zealand's white-ball tour of India begins with an ODI in Vadodara on Sunday.

After the three-match ODI series, the teams will compete in a five-match T20I series, serving as the final build-up to the T20 World Cup, which begins on February 7 and will be held simultaneously in India and Sri Lanka.

"The preparation is going to be perfect," Phillips said. "Obviously, the conditions may be a little bit different to what we'll actually get in the World Cup.

"You never quite know what sort of pitches that people will produce, especially if we're playing subcontinent teams.

"They tend to try and produce something that's a little bit more spin-friendly. But when we're on this T20 and ODI tour, they tend to produce pitches that are really quite good," he concluded.

(With PTI Inputs)