We present a detailed study of the stellar kinematics in the barred galaxy NGC 5728 based on I-band photometry and long-slit spectroscopic observations in the region of the near-IR Ca II triplet .
The analysis of the stellar line-of-sight velocity distribution ( LOSVD ) has revealed , in the central regions of the bar , the presence of a cold ( v/ \sigma \sim 2.5 ) prograde S -shaped velocity component that coexists in the central 4 kpc with a fainter and hotter ( v/ \sigma \sim 0.5 ) counterrotating component .
Beyond 4 kpc from the nucleus the LOSVD shows the stellar bar kinematics .
The comparison of the radial surface brightness profile of the velocity components with that obtained from an I-band image shows that the counterrotating core follows a r ^ { 1 / 4 } profile , while the S -shaped component does not follows the flat bar surface brightness profile .
Several possible scenarios accounting for such kinematic signatures found in the center of the bar in NGC 5728 are discussed .

The data presented in this paper shows for the first time the presence of extended retrograde motions in barred systems which , together with previous discoveries seems to indicate that the stellar counterrotation is a phenomenon present all along the Hubble sequence .