Would you believe it?

We're off to the Finals!

After a lacklustre display against Bangladesh in a meaningless match, Pakistan thoroughly beat New Zealand in today's first semi-final to advance to the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, to be played this Monday. And just to make things a bit more interesting, Pakistan plays India. Yes, I'm excited yet very nervous!

The past year has been extremely tumultuous for the Pakistan team. Without going into dramatics, I thought I'd jot down a mini-chronicle of what the Green-shirts have gone through :

1 - Ball-tampering saga (Part 2). In their Test match versus England at the Oval, umpire Darrell Hair calls Pakistan for ball tampering. Captain Inzamam Ul-Haq takes his team off the field in protest, subsequently forfeiting the test. After thorough investigation, the team is acquitted of any wrong-doing and with a bit of pressure from the Asian bloc, Darrell Hair loses his standing as an elite umpire in the ICC

2 - Doping scandal involving Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar, both star bowlers of the team. Both players were found to have nandrolone (a performance enhancer) in their systems and were banned from 1 and 2 year terms. While they were acquited, it was essentially technicalities which allowed them to continue their careers

3 - A horrendous ODI World Cup showing in March where they lost the opening match to host West Indies and then the ignominy of losing to minnows Ireland. (For those confused, this World Cup was the more traditional 50 over form of the game that lasts approximately 8 hours.)

4 - After the Ireland match, the suspicious death of coach Bob Woolmer. While it was eventually discovered via autopsies that he died due to ill health, the whole World Cup was overshadowed by the frenzy surrounding what was then a potential murder investigation.

5 - The pushing-out of Inzamam ul-Haq not only as captain, but player on the Pakistan squad. Shoaib Malik, one of the up-and-comers, is named new captain.

6 - Geoff Lawson, the former Australian fast bowler, is chosen as the new coach to replace Bob Woolmer. While he was offered the position early on, the contract was not signed until after

7 - After a record-breaking year of Test cricket, Mohammad Yousuf is omitted from the team for this Twenty20 tournament. He quickly signs on to the rebel Indian Cricket League, which could jeopardize his career in the national squad.

8 - One week before the beginning of the Twenty20 World Cup, a scuffle occurs between Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar. Shoaib is accused of hitting Asif with a bat on the thigh, for which he is immediately sent back home. His international career is now in jeopardy

If you digested all of that, bravo to you! While drama is status quo with this team, the last 12 to 16 months has been terrible to endure as a fan. Even I - the most ardent supporter - was beginning to think that we would never be able to rekindle the flame that once made the team world-beaters. Yet it seems this team is carrying quite a bit of momentum. They've beaten some very good teams and have done so with a calm temperament - something very new for a Pakistan team. And while I obviously hope they can take out India on Monday, I'm very content in seeing this team shine once again.

Now let's hope we take vengeance for the "bowl-out" loss in the round-robin stage of the tournament.

Pakistan Zindabad!