Maharoof got married on Saturday 18 July 2009 at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Many Sri Lankan and Pakistani cricketers attended the all-rounder's wedding.

Born in Colombo, Farveez Maharoof began playing cricket around the age of eight. He also played football until he was twelve and touch rugby. Maharoof, who attended Wesley College in Colombo, began as a wicketkeeper-batsman and only began bowling regularly from under-13 cricket onwards. Five players were absent with the flu in one match and Maharoof was called upon to bowl. He took six wickets, including a hat-trick, and from then on concentrated on fast bowling.

In December 2003 and January 2004, at the age of 19, Maharoof toured India with the Sri Lanka A team for a tri-series with India A and Pakistan A. He took nine wickets in the series at an average of 11.77, the best average of the tournament; Maharoof was named Man of the Match in the tournament's final, which Sri Lanka A won. A month later, Maharoof was appointed captain of Sri Lanka Under-19s for the Under-19 World Cup. He had some experience of leading teams, having captained school sides and the national youth sides. In one of the matches, Maharoof scored 56 to help his team to victory over Australia and was named Man of the Match.

The inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), an eight-team domestic twenty20 competition, was held in 2008. Maharoof was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for $225,000. He took 15 wickets in the tournament at an average of 16.60, making him the equal ninth-highest wicket-taker in competition. While playing for in the IPL in 2008, Maharoof was teammates with Australia seam bowler Glenn McGrath; according to Marahroof, McGrath helped him with his bowling variations, making a "huge difference", and introduced more control to his slower ball.

On 17 March 2011, it was announced that Maharoof would be joining Lancashire County Cricket Club for the entire English cricket season. He joined Lancashire with the intention of forcing his way back into Sri Lanka's Test team. He made his first-class debut for the club on 20 April, taking the place of injured captain