Born in Sialkot, Pakistan, Sikandar Raza's dream of being a fighter pilot ended prematurely when he failed in his eye examination. Nursing the dream from a tender age of 11, it was not easy for Raza to see his dream being shattered in such a way.

Determined to succeed in his life, Raza got admitted to the Glasgow Caledonian University and moved to Zimbabwe, where his parents had resided since 2002. He began playing cricket as a semi-professional and made his First-Class debut in 2007 for the Northerns. After Zimbabwe's cricket structure was revamped in 2009, he went on to play First-Class cricket for the Mashonaland Eagles.

After completing his studies, he returned to full-time cricket in the 2010-11 season. He had a decent season, scoring 625 runs at an average of 41. He made his Twenty20 debut for the Southern Rocks in 2010 against the Desert Vipers. He turned out to be a T20 specialist, and he was the leading run-scorer in the 2010 Stanbic Bank 20 Competition.