Rewrite the sentence in direct speech.
They said that they played cricket.

Correct option is D

The correct conversion involves changing "they played cricket" in indirect speech to "We play cricket" in direct speech, which accurately reflects the simple present tense used to discuss habitual actions.
Rule of Conversion: Past simple in indirect speech becomes present simple in direct speech when referring to habitual actions. Pronouns are adjusted to reflect direct dialogue.
Example: They said they played -> They said, "We play."