Shivnarine Chanderpaul was born in Unity Village, Guyana on 16 August 1974. His father, Kamraj Chanderpaul, helped to nurture his cricketing ability as a youngster. His ancestors moved from India to the West Indies as workers. By the age of eight, Chanderpaul was playing for his village's cricket team, and would frequently bat for hours, being bowled at by various members of his family. His father initially took him to the Everest club in Georgetown, but there was not a place for him at the club, and so he instead joined the Demerara Cricket Club. He appeared for the club's under-16 side while only ten. He was later given an opportunity at the Georgetown Cricket Club.

He made his first-class cricket debut for Guyana at the age of 17, facing Leeward Islands in the 1991–92 Red Stripe Cup. He was run out for a duck in his first innings, but scored 90 runs in the second. His List A debut followed a few days later, against Barbados, in which Chanderpaul did not get a chance to bat in a match with no result. He achieved his maiden first-class century in April 1993, playing for the West Indies Board President's XI against the touring Pakistanis. After taking four wickets in the Pakistanis' innings, Chanderpaul was one of three West Indians to score a century, scoring 140 runs, and remaining not out.

During this time, he achieved the highest first-class score of his career, in a 1995–96 Red Stripe Cup match against Jamaica. In the first-innings of the match, which was eventually drawn, he scored 303 not out from 478 deliveries. In 2007, he subsequently joined Durham as an overseas player, and helped them to collect their first trophy by top-scoring in the final of the Friends Provident Trophy.

In March 2008, Chanderpaul caused some controversy when, after batting for Guyana on the first day of a Carib Beer Series match, he left to a