Which of the following alternatives gives the correct form of indirect speech of the given sentence? “O God do not put me to the test”, said I

The correct answer is C. Here the reporting verb 'said' is changed to 'appealed to', which fits a plea addressed to God, and the imperative 'do not put me to the test' becomes an infinitive: 'not to put me to the test'. The interjection 'O God' is dropped in indirect speech because it is an exclamation of address, not part of the reported content.

Why the others fail:

• A: 'asked' takes an infinitive when it reports a request or command, so 'asked God do not put' is ungrammatical. It should read 'asked God not to put'.
• B: 'requested' has the same defect. A verb of requesting needs 'to' plus the infinitive, and 'do not' cannot stand after it.
• D: 'exclaimed to God, do not put me' keeps the direct speech structure with a comma and the imperative intact. Indirect speech must not retain the imperative form or the punctuation of direct speech.

The concept is the conversion of imperative sentences: 'said to' becomes 'requested/ordered/advised/appealed', and the imperative is rewritten as 'to + verb' or 'not to + verb'. This is a standard Grammar item in the English section, and clear reporting is also useful in Mains answers that quote officials or sources.

Trap: Aspirants pick A or B because 'asked' or 'requested' sounds right, and then forget that the negative imperative needs 'not to' after the reporting verb.