The hard-line Taliban regime, renowned for its harsh restrictive policies on all things recreational, is making one special exception in these troubled times. Cricket, a national passion in neighbouring Pakistan and India, is taking off in the war-ravaged country. And despite the nightly bombardment by US warplanes, the game goes on.
This week, the Afghan national team is making a rare international appearance at a tournament in Nowshera in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
It is the third time Afghanistan has played in Pakistan, which has seen a scheduled tour by New Zealand cancelled because of the crisis.
The game, which is still in an embryonic stage in Afghanistan, was introduced to the country by returning refugees based in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1989.
The Afghanistan cricket team manager, Allah Dad Noori, said the team is determined to give the tournament their all, despite the bombing that started in his country 10 days ago.
Allah, who returned to Kabul four years ago after living for nearly 20 years in Pakistan as a refugee, said he was anxious about the bombing.
The Afghan team is made up of students, a carpet salesman and shopkeeper ranging in age from 19 to 28. While not up to international standards, they try their best. Some players still live in Pakistan and travel to Afghanistan to take part in trials.
However, it was still difficult to get support for the sport in Afghanistan, which is near the bottom of most international lists of development after more than two decades of war and ethnic conflict.
According to Allah, the government does not have any money, so the players fund the game themselves. The team has received equipment donated by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's world governing body.
Allah's team was invited in July by the Pakistan Cricket Board to take part in the tournament as part of an effort to boost Afghanistan's status with the ICC.
Afghanistan is an affiliate member of the ICC and is aiming for associate membership, allowing the team to play in international tournaments.
The sport has been expanding rapidly in Afghanistan with the returning refugees from Pakistan, although there are few facilities for the sport in the country.
Some matches have been played in a stadium in Kabul which has been used in the past by the Taliban for public amputations, floggings and executions of those deemed to have contravened their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
The tolerance of the Taliban for the game is remarkable given its strict rules on other aspects of life. For example, it bans the playing of loud music. And recently they insisted that members of a visiting Pakistan soccer team cut their hair as punishment for wearing shorts.