Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the highlighted segment in the given sentence.
They said that he is not going to call them.

Correct option is D

The correct substitution of the highlighted words is "he was not going to call them." This change is necessary to match the tense used in indirect or reported speech when the reporting verb is in the past tense.
· Grammatical rule used: In reported speech, shifts in verb tenses are required depending on the tense of the reporting verb. Here, "is" becomes "was" to reflect past reporting.
· Example: They mentioned that he was not going to call them, but he ended up making the call.