On 4 March 2021, the PCB suspended the tournament with 14 of the scheduled 30 group matches having been played after multiple cases of COVID-19 were recorded.

[3] On 20 May 2021, approval was granted to play the remaining matches of the PSL 6 in Abu Dhabi and the tournament restarted on 9 June.

On 24 June 2021, Multan Sultans beat Peshawar Zalmi in the final, by 47 runs to win their first title.

[9] Speaking about crowds, PCB chairman Ehsan Mani said that he hoped if they could maintain tight protocols during the tournament, they could increase capacity later in the year for future tours of Pakistan.

[9] It was rumored that starting from this edition, the PSL would have a dedicated window in the ICC Future Tours Programme.

[18] The final squads were confirmed by 22 May,[19] when the Lahore Qalandars re-signed Rashid Khan after his replacement Shakib Al Hasan pulled out of the PSL.

[20] In June 2020, the PCB announced they planned to add Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar, as a fifth venue in this edition of the PSL.

[27] After the tournament was moved to the UAE, the remaining matches took place at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

[28] The stadiums were initially allowed to hold only 20% capacity per match; 7,500 in Karachi and 5,500 in Lahore; in view of COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.

[35] The day before the tournament was due to start, Wahab Riaz and Daren Sammy, both of Peshawar Zalmi, were put in isolation after they met with team owner Javed Afridi, who was not part of the bubble.

[37] On 1 March, Fawad Ahmed of Islamabad United was reported to have tested positive for COVID-19, which led to the postponement of their match against Quetta Gladiators by one day.

[38] On 4 March, it was reported that three more players had tested positive, including Tom Banton and a support staff member.

[40][41] Dr Sohail Saleem, Head of the Medical Panel, submitted his resignation to chairman Ehsan Mani following increasing criticism over the abrupt postponement of the tournament.

[42] After the postponement, the PCB formed a two-member fact-finding committee to investigate the causes behind the bio-secure bubble breaches.

[44] On 11 April, the PCB announced the tournament's revised schedule with the competition due to restart on 1 June.

[51] Following this, the PCB and the team owners held a virtual meeting on 19 May to review all potential scenarios and unanimously agreed to wait until the close of business on 20 May (UAE time) regarding clarifications on certain requested exemptions before a final decision on the hosting of the remaining matches was made.

[52][53][54] In May 2021, the Pakistan Super League finally secured all exemptions and approvals required to conduct the remainder of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi.

Haider Ali and Umaid Asif, both of Peshawar Zalmi, admitted that they had met people from outside their bubble and were suspended from competing in the final.

In the group stage teams are ranked on the following criteria: In any play-off match in which there is no result, a super over is used to determine the winner.

[60] While in game two, Rashid Khan made his debut for the Lahore Qalandars, helping them to a 4 wicket win over Peshawar Zalmi.

[79] Mohammad Rizwan led from the front in game 21, he scored an unbeaten 82 as Multan beat Peshawar by 8 wickets.

[81] Quetta Gladiators got a rare win in game 23, as Khurram Shazad took 3 wickets in an 18 run victory against Lahore.

[83] Hazratullah Zazai scored the joint fastest half-century in game 24, after Peshawar's bowlers restricted Karachi to 108 before Zalmi chased it down with 6 wickets to spare.

[85] Records were broken in game 26, as an Usman Khawaja century propelled Islamabad to 247, the highest ever PSL score.

[82] On the same day, in the second Karachi-Lahore derby of the season, the Kings beat the Qalandars by 7 runs to keep their playoff hopes alive.

[86] Lahore were in action the next day in game 28 losing by 80 runs to Multan, who, as a result, qualified for the playoffs; this was largely down to Shahnawaz Dahani, who took 4/5.

In the end, after a final over, which contained two dropped catches, Sherfane Rutherford's 17 helped to give Peshawar a 5 wicket win.

For much of Islamabad's innings, Peshawar were fielding with 10 fielders after Mohammad Irfan went off injured and was not allowed a replacement.

Shoaib Malik applied the finishing touches for the Zalmi, scoring 32 off 10 as Peshawar wrapped up an 8 wicket win.

Rilee Rossouw followed Maqsood and made 50 in 20 balls, before he top edged a ramp to Mohammad Irfan as Sameen Gul claimed his first wicket of the match.