With one-day matches still to come, paceman James Anderson might have been expected to rest his minor thigh injury when play starts at The Oval on Thursday.
But captain Andrew Strauss said his team was determined to maintain the momentum that has taken his side to 19 test victories since Andy Flower was appointed coach two years ago - just one fewer than England managed in the whole of the 1980s.
Anderson bowled for about 30 minutes in Wednesday's practice and should be fit to keep his place ahead of Graham Onions, who was called up as cover.
"We've set a precedent of resting players in the past and I think it's sensible at times to be able to do that because of the hectic nature of the international schedule," Strauss said. "You don't want bowlers breaking down for important series.
"But we will only be resting players if we're absolutely sure they need a rest."
Strauss said England learned lessons from 2005, when it also appeared on the verge of great things.
England beat a long-dominant Australia but hubris and lack of strength in depth subsequently undermined the squad, which experienced the twin lows of a 5-0 Ashes capitulation and 2009 series loss to West Indies.
"2005 surprised us all," Strauss said. "It was such a strong Australian side and I don't think until the very end of that series we truly believed we could beat them. We played some amazing cricket, and then maybe we weren't quite as clear in our own minds what direction we wanted to go in from there.
"This is a gradual evolution and we're only part of the way there on our journey as a group of players. The rankings are an indicator of the type of cricket we're playing."
England has dominated India in all aspects of the game, piling on the runs and outshining its opponent in the field. The previous No 1 side, India, has also struggled to take wickets in the absence of the injured Zaheer Khan.
"We have missed Zaheer Khan because he has got plenty of experience and can move the ball," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. "He can plan a batsman out, which is important in these circumstances."
But with England providing eight of the series' nine leading scorers, Dhoni is targeting an improvement elsewhere.
Tellingly, England bowler Stuart Broad has scored more runs than India batting great Sachin Tendulkar, who is still chasing a 100th international century.
"We have not put many runs on board, which I felt is very important to give the bowlers the liberty of trying things out," Dhoni said. "We missed one bowler in the first game and another in the second. That was also quite difficult to manage."
But India's injury problems could get worse if Praveen Kumar fails to get over the thumb injury sustained at Edgbaston last week.
Anderson's 18 wickets have been exceeded by Stuart Broad's 21 in England's three wins, but his importance to the bowling attack is not fully reflected by the statistics.
Anderson has plotted tactics with his fellow pace bowlers to engineer openings and has consistently placed India's batsmen under pressure that has led to wickets for Broad, Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett.
"He's been very much the leader of our attack for the last couple of years and he's been outstanding in that role," Strauss said. "He's very important, not just for the tone he sets but for his relationship with the other bowlers.
"But you can't rely on one person. That's one of the things that we've been good at: We've not relied on one or two people to win us a test match."
Onions would be an accomplished replacement.
He played a crucial role in England's 2009 Ashes victory but last played a test in January 2010. The bowler left a tour of Bangladesh in March 2010 with a career-threatening stress fracture to his back, ruling him out of the whole of the 2010 season.
