The fixtures for this season were released on 14 February with the Sunrisers Hyderabad playing their first match against the Rajasthan Royals on 9 April at their home ground in Hyderabad. On 28 March, David Warner resigned as the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the aftermath of a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. The Board of Control for Cricket in India later announced on the same day that Warner along with his Australian team-mate, Steve Smith, would not be allowed to play in 2018 IPL after Cricket Australia imposed one-year ban imposed on them. The following day, the Sunrisers Hyderabad announced Kane Williamson would serve as captain and Bhuvneshwar Kumar would be vice-captain for the season. Later, they announced Alex Hales as Warner's replacement for the season. The batsman was bought for his base price of from the Registered and Available Player Pool (RAPP) list.