Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli hasn't had the best of starts to this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) with the bat. Kohli, inarguably the world's finest limited-overs batsman, has made scores of just 14 & 1 in his side's two matches so far.

As RCB strives to comeback to winning ways after conceding a heavy defeat to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) following their victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the campaign opener, former England batsman and Kohli's friend, Kevin Pietersen, believes a lot depends on their skipper and how he bounces back strongly. 

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“I think that I am going to stick with where I was at the start of the tournament. Talking about a guy like Virat Kohli, you are talking about his showmanship and where he likes to play the game. And, his ability to accept the energy of the ground,” Pietersen said on Star Sports before RCB's third game versus defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai this Monday (September 28). 

Despite the modest start, Pietersen doesn't think Kohli is that far away from turning it around and playing a knock that leaves everyone in awe of the mighty right-hander. 

“He hasn’t started very well at all. And he accepts that, and he even said at the press conference, accepting the responsibility of some of the stuff that he has been doing. So, he is man enough to accept his responsibility and I am still very interested to see how a guy like him makes a comeback,” he said. 

“He is the best of the best when it comes to batting has the best showmanship of the sport. But there is no spectators and a showman needs spectators. So, at the moment, he is not very good, and he accepts that."

"But it will be very interesting to see if that graph does move and he gets used to playing. It will be the most interesting feature of this IPL to see Kohli with no crowds," Pietersen added.