Manoj Tiwary, the Bengal batter, who recently announced his retirement from all cricket, revealed that his biggest regret is having an on-field fight with former Delhi and India cricketer Gautam Gambhir.

According to the 38-year-old, it was an incredible journey over two decades in first-class cricket with lots of good memories which he takes away from the game. But the spat with Gambhir nine years ago is something he wishes that never happened.

During the Ranji Trophy 2015, Bengal and Delhi clashed in a Group A match at the Ferozeshah Kotla (now Arun Jaitley Stadium) in Delhi. Tiwary had come in to bat at No. 4 wearing a cap but then asked for a helmet as soon as he realized pacer Sumit Narwal would be bowling from the other end.

Gambhir, who was in slips, lost his cool and what followed was an ugly spat with lots of words spoken on both sides.

"The fight I had with Gambhir that day is the only regret I have because people who know me will tell you that I am not that sort of a person who goes out there and quarrels with seniors. It is one of those memories that I could have avoided. I have a good relationship with my seniors, but due to one incident, it spoilt my image," Tiwary told Sports Now.

To be noted, both Tiwary and Gambhir played for the same franchise in the Indian Premier League at that time, the Kolkata Knight Riders.

"That is why I said it is my biggest regret because we were very close at one point in time. While playing for KKR, we used to have a lot of discussions and brainstorm over who to pick in Kolkata. The relationship was such that we used to go into details and inputs. But things did not pan out the way that they should have," he rued.

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When asked whether it was true that Gambhir had said, "Tu bahar mil match ke baad, ((Meet me after the match) and aaj tu gaya (you are finished today)", Tiwary laughed and confirmed that Gambhir said those phrases.

"Yeah (laughs), and that was very immature of him to say that. In Kotla, the journalist's tent is inside the ground, and everyone hears each and every word present there. But with my physical attribute and his physical attribute, kise pata kaun shaam ko milta ( who knows who would have met outside the ground) (laughs again).

Gambhir is a passionate cricketer, and so am I. But at times, passion brings out certain things that should not occur in public view. It was unexpected, and so many other things were said. But I had no mistake in it,” said Tiwary.

Reports at that time also mentioned that Tiwary was incensed as Gambhir had made some remarks about Sourav Ganguly, Cricket Association of Bengal president.

However, Tiwary revealed that he and Gambhir never talked after that incident to close the chapter.

"No, we never spoke about it, and neither did we get time to meet," he concluded.

(Sports now inputs)