The Pakistan Super League was on Thursday postponed with immediate effect after three more cricketers tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of cases in the T20 event to seven and prompting the cricket board to announce an inquiry into the fiasco.
Out of the seven cases, six are players while one is a support staff member.
"Following a meeting with the team owners and considering the health and wellbeing of all participants is paramount, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to postpone the HBL Pakistan Super League 6 with immediate effect," the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.
"The decision was made after seven cases were reported in the competition, which had started on 20 February."
PCB CEO Wasim Khan said an inquiry will be conducted to understand what went wrong.
"It is a great disappointment for us and we find ourselves in a situation where we question whether we can provide full protection for players as their health and well being comes above everything else," Wasim Khan told a press conference here.
"We looked at the option of halting proceedings for a few days but in the last few days there was huge concern even among the franchises and players.
"Collectively we could have done a lot of things better and this is not a blame game but we have to look with a microscope at what went wrong and we have to provide confidence and assurance in the future to touring teams and players," he added.
Khan said the priority of the board right now is to ensure that players are able safely travel back to their respective destinations.
"...we all had a responsibility for self-policing and unfortunately we were not able to do that."
The three players, who have tested positive most recently, were not part of the sides that featured in Wednesday's double-header, and had been tested in the afternoon after showing symptoms.
Only 14 games could be completed in the 34-match tournament.
The PCB said it "will focus on the safe and secure passage of all participants, and arrange repeat PCR tests, vaccines and isolation facilities to the six participating sides."
The PCB was apparently forced to take the decision after some of the foreign players and few local team officials expressed their concern over the situation and Australian all-rounder, Dan Christian decided to fly home immediately.
There were reports that some other foreign players also wanted to return home immediately, while a former Pakistan captain decided to leave the bio-secure bubble at the team hotel and go back to his home in Karachi.
On Wednesday, the Board had offered coronavirus vaccine doses to all participants of the league.
England batsman Tom Banton had claimed that he was one of the two foreign players who tested positive for COVID-19 and has been put under isolation.
PCB Director of Media Sami-ul Hasan Burney on Tuesday said that two foreign players and one member of the support staff had tested positive for the virus.
This was after Australian leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed tested positive on Monday.
Burney had not named the two players and the support staff member.
Last March when the COVID-19 pandemic spread in Pakistan, the Board was also forced to postpone the league but by that time the league stage matches had been completed and the tournament was completed in November.