Select the option that expresses the given sentence in reported speech.
Koushik said to Tarun, “You are a good cricketer.”
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. Koushik told Tarun that he was a good cricketer.
The direct speech is:
Koushik said to Tarun, “You are a good cricketer.”
To transform this into reported (indirect) speech:
Change the reporting verb: 'said to' becomes 'told'.
Convert the pronoun and tense:
'You' (Tarun) in direct speech becomes 'he' (Tarun) in reported speech.
The present tense 'are' shifts back to past tense 'was' to match the sequence of tenses.
This yields the correct indirect version:
“Koushik told Tarun that he was a good cricketer.”
Option 1 (“Koushik told Tarun that he had been a good cricketer.”) wrongly uses the past perfect 'had been', suggesting his cricket ability is now over.
Option 2 (“Koushik told that Tarun is a good cricketer.”) omits the object ('Tarun') after 'told' and incorrectly retains the present tense 'is'.
Option 3 (“Koushik tells Tarun that he is a good cricketer.”) uses the present tense 'tells'/'is', which is inappropriate for reporting past speech.