Choose the correct option which best expresses the following same sentence in Indirect speech.

Anil said, "Ali deserved the prize".

Anil said that Ali had deserved the prize.

The correct answer is Option (4) - Anil said that Ali had deserved the prize.

1. Direct Speech:
   The original sentence is:
   Anil said, "Ali deserved the prize."

2. Reporting Verb in Past Tense:
   The reporting verb "said" is in the past tense. When the reporting verb is in the past, the tense of the verb in the direct speech generally shifts back (backshift) in the reported (indirect) speech.

3. Backshift Rule:
   The direct speech verb "deserved" (simple past) should be changed to the past perfect form "had deserved" in indirect speech to reflect that the action was completed before the time of reporting.

4. Final Conversion:
   Thus, the sentence becomes:
   Anil said that Ali had deserved the prize.

This transformation correctly applies the backshift rule, making "Anil said that Ali had deserved the prize." the most appropriate option.