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The first Test between Bangladesh and South Africa ended in a draw in Chittagong last week as rain played spoilsport.

But opening batsman Imrul Kayes believes that their batsmen did a good job against the South African pace attack. He also said that their coach gave them the freedom of playing their shots.

Bangladeshi players were on top after they bundled the Proteas batting lineup for 248 runs and then the batsmen scored 326 runs in their first innings. Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das and Mahmudullah scored a half-century each.

"The coach supports us a lot. He has given us all the freedom to play shots. Previously, we faced a situation where we had to play in a certain way. I like it now that he doesn't put stipulations on us. He tells us to play like we want to. It is a positive thing. We are playing against the No. 1 team in the world. They hardly give a bad ball, always on the money. You could have survived on the Chittagong wicket but you couldn't play shots," Kayes said in an interview to Espn Cricinfo on Monday.

"Every batsman has an individual plan, what shots he will play, what his strength is. We want to play out the new ball. Our basic plan is to stay in the wicket for as long as possible. The more we spend time at the crease, the easier it becomes for the next batsmen and they can bat with more comfort," he said.

Kayes believed that his innings of 150 runs against Pakistan helped him build confidence and playing against South Africa, which has one of the best pace attackers in the world, will help him in near future. 

"When you can score against an attack that comes at 140kph, you get a lot of confidence. You think 'that if I can do it against them, I can do it against everyone else too. The 150 [against Pakistan] was a turning point for me because I didn't do well in the World Cup. The comeback was necessary for me. I want to hold on to this rhythm so that I can bat smoothly from now on," Kayes added.