PSL 2021 (Season 6): Multan Sultans Win Maiden Title by 47 Runs After COVID-Suspended Season Completes in Abu Dhabi

Multan Sultans won their first-ever Pakistan Super League title on 24 June 2021 at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, UAE, defeating Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs in the PSL Season 6 final. Multan posted 206/4 — Sohaib Maqsood anchoring with 65* — then bowled Peshawar out for 159/9. Maqsood was Player of the Match and also won Player of the Tournament with 428 runs across the season. The season itself had been suspended mid-way through a Pakistan leg in early 2021 after multiple COVID-19 positive cases, before resuming in Abu Dhabi in June.

The COVID Suspension: PSL Crosses Two Countries

PSL Season 6 began in Pakistan on 20 February 2021 — a significant homecoming after previous editions had been staged partly or fully in the UAE for security reasons. But the bio-bubble in Pakistan was breached by COVID-19 positive cases, and the PSB (Pakistan Sports Board and PCB) suspended the tournament around late February/early March. The remaining matches were rescheduled for Abu Dhabi, resuming 9 June 2021 and concluding with the final on 24 June. The split meant PSL 6 crossed two countries separated by a three-month gap — one of the most logistically complex franchise T20 seasons ever completed. The same pattern (mid-season COVID suspension) affected the IPL 2021 in the same calendar year.

Sohaib Maqsood: Tournament-Defining All-Round Batting

Sohaib Maqsood's 65* in the PSL Season 6 final — combined with Rilee Rossouw's 50 — anchored Multan Sultans' 206/4, a total that proved too large for Peshawar Zalmi to chase. Maqsood, the Pakistan right-handed middle-order batter, had been a consistent PSL performer across multiple seasons but PSL Season 6 represented his most complete individual tournament campaign: 428 runs across the full competition, earning him the Player of the Tournament award alongside his final Player of the Match. His performances helped define the Sultans as a team with both depth and a reliable match-winner in the middle order.

PSL Season 6 in Context

PSL Season 6 was the second full PSL season to be completed at least partly in Pakistan (after Season 5 in 2020 was also affected by COVID restrictions and staging complications). The league's ambition to play a full season in Pakistani cities — Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Peshawar — was a central part of Pakistan cricket's effort to restore high-profile international cricket and domestic franchise cricket to its home venues after years of staging abroad. COVID-19 interrupted that ambition in 2021; the competition would eventually achieve a full Pakistan-staged season in PSL Season 7 (2022), which Lahore Qalandars won for their maiden title.