"I must take the initiative to stand in front of you as captain and express my opinion," said Petrov, whose appearance at a news conference stunned reporters.
"I hope he [Berbatov] will come back because we have many young strikers in the team who will develop if he plays with them... of course, I'm ready to talk to him again."
Former captain Berbatov, the Balkan country's all-time leading scorer with 48 goals, quit the national team last year citing fatigue and family commitments.
"I'll be the happiest man if I see Berbatov wearing the national team's shirt because he's our most talented player," said Petrov, Bulgaria's most capped player with 103 appearances.
"Yes, he [Berbatov] was criticised for his style of play but we just can't afford to deprive the team of our greatest talent.
"Bulgaria need a player like him."
"I have not spoken for quite some time but it's better not to talk about the reasons now," Petrov said.
Bulgaria host Wales on October 11 in a Euro 2012 qualifier although they have already failed to qualify for next year's finals in Poland and Ukraine.
