MUMBAI, India  - The India's cricket board felt "let down" by indian bowler Harbhajan Singh after the slapping incident involving compatriot Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

Player "Harbhajan singh" was suspended on Saturday pending a disciplinary hearing and the incident, which happened in an Indian Premier League Cricket India 2008 game on Friday, dominated the front pages of newspapers in the cricket-mad country at the weekend.

The off-spinner will face the hearing on Monday.

"I feel let down," the cricket board's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told Sunday's Hindustan Times newspaper. "This type of harsh behaviour is unheard of, shameful."

The cricket board had stood up for Harbhajan singh in an ugly row in Australia this year. He was initially banned for 3 test matches after being found guilty of doing racist remarks against all-rounder Andrew Symonds, but was subsequently let off with a fine on a lesser charge following an appeal.

"If the cricket players are taking this tournament lightly, it's time they realised it is serious cricket... when the board stands behind its players, it doesn't mean it will tolerate any nonsense," Shetty said. The circketer Harbhajan singh is one of his India's most successful spin bowlers, but his disciplinary record has been poor. Bhajji was even ejected from the Indian board's National Cricket Academy early in his career.

"We are not going to sweep things under the carpet," Indian Premier League Cricket India match referee and adjudicator Farokh Engineer told Indian media.